To Be A Solister
by Tekketsu08
Summary: Kumiko and co.'s Pokémon journey in an OC region, with unexpected characters popping up along the way. Sapphic ships shall set sail. New chapter every Thursday!
1. Chapter 1: Overture

Hello! This is my first fic on this site, though my second featuring characters Hibike! Euphonium (I sure love this franchise). Though the premise of this fic is extremely similar to that of the wonderful mistyheartrbs 'the very best' (namely Hibike characters in the Pokémon world), I can assure you that only the premise is the same with the exception of a character's Pokémon, and this fic will provide those of you that have read the other one with a fresh new experience. In this fic, there are only two elements of Pokémon that I will change:  
1\. A Trainer's journey starts at 16 in this story's OC region to preserve characters' canon ages  
2\. There is no fixed starter Pokémon to choose from in the OC region

* * *

With all that said and done, shall we begin the first movement?

"Kumiko, wake up! You don't want to be late on your first day!"

Rubbing her eyes, Kumiko Oumae sat up in bed, eyes darting over to the open door where she could hear her mother's voice ringing out from down below. Stretching her arms, she briefly wondered why her mother was calling her before she remembered what today was.

The day that she could get her first Pokémon.

With a startled "BWAHHHH!" she sprang out of bed, almost forgetting to pick up her hair tie before getting to her morning routine. As she was getting finished, she almost forgot the last step of all: choosing her clothes for the day.

Stumbling back to her room, Kumiko opened her closet, with clothes strewn lazily on hangers and on the floor. After considering several different combinations, she settled on wearing an orange and white blouse with blue denim shorts, the contrasting yet subdued colors complementing each other while not being too flashy.

Pulling back her hair, Kumiko's fingers stretched open the hair tie before collapsing it, cloth and rubber springing back as she realized that there was no need to tie her hair back. Her hair was short enough to not get bitten by any wild Pokémon even if she left it hanging, but she tucked it in her pocket just in case.

Grabbing her black messenger bag with a Tuba-kun plushie attached to it, Kumiko could see her mother preparing breakfast as she walked downstairs, the smell of fried eggs tingling her nose.

"Morning, mom." she drearily murmured, her voice indicating that she was still tired despite the sudden burst of adrenaline earlier.

"Good morning, dear. I've prepared omelettes for breakfast. Today's a big day for you, isn't it?" her mother cheerily replied as Kumiko slid down into her chair "It's not every day that you get to choose your first Pokémon!"

Slicing a section off her meal before eating it, Kumiko was more ambivalent "Yeah, I would be more excited if it wasn't for the fact that I still haven't decided which Pokémon I'm going to choose."

"Don't worry, honey." her mother reassured her "You'll still have time to choose at the lab. There are lots of Pokémon to choose from here in Octiva compared to the three in other regions. I'm sure the Professor will sort you out."

Eating the last portion of her omelette, Kumiko's mood remained unchanged. "I'm heading out now." she wearily declared as she stood up, wiping her mouth with a paper napkin before crumpling it up into a ball and throwing it into the nearby trash can.

"All right, sweetie." her mother called back "Don't forget to send back photos of your new Pokémon. I'm sure that your father and sister will like them too!"

Sighing to herself as she opened the door, she could only walk a few meters away from her house before the door slammed shut, coinciding with a 'BOO!' coming from the bushes outside of her home.

"HWAAAA!" was the only sound that came through Kumiko's mouth before she realized who was crouching behind the shrubbery: Natsuki Nakagawa, one of her closest friends. The two had met through a summer music program for euphonium players a year ago, and hit it off thanks to their shared sexuality and personality traits. Perched on top of her head was her Munna Zenzense, her eyes glowing as she sucked away at Natsuki's dreams, preventing her Trainer from falling asleep.

"Arceus above, you scared me!" Kumiko's alarmed voice rang out "Couldn't you have just greeted me like a normal person?"

"Relax, kid." the older teen calmly deflected "I'm just here to wish you well before you start your own journey. Besides, since when was choosing your starter Pokémon boring? I'd love to see which one you'll choose." With her signature "CEMENT ADDICTION" T-shirt and ripped jeans, her casual clothing matched her attitude.

"That's the problem." Kumiko bluntly replied "I haven't decided on one yet."

"Well no worries, kid. I won't tell you what to choose. It's the Pokémon that chooses the trainer, not the other way around, as they say."

"Thanks for the inspirational quote, Natsuki. I really appreciate it." Kumiko's tone reeked with sarcasm.

"Anyways, good luck out there, kid. The world's a tough place, but I'm sure that you'll handle it just fine. See ya!" With her last words, she sent out her Espurr Soul, and was whisked away with a Teleport.

"Classic Natsuki. Always ditching me at the last minute." Kumiko muttered to herself as she walked to the lab down the road.

The lab was a moderately sized single-floor building, but what made it impressive was the massive expanse of greenery behind it, stretching out boundlessly like a miniature nature reserve. A wide variety of Pokémon inhabited the fields, all of them available for prospective trainers to pick and choose from.

Stepping inside the lab, Kumiko noticed that the Professor wasn't present. Despite booking an appointment a week ago, it seemed that nobody was there to help her.

"Hello? Anybody here?" Kumiko's voice rang out throughout the lab's interior, reverberating across the wide array of machinery.

"Oh! You must be the new Trainer that the Professor talked to me about." A woman wearing a pale blue blouse with a knee-length white skirt stepped out, her brown hair matching the color of her eyes.

"I'm Satomi Niiyama, a good friend of the Professor. She asked me to take care of the lab before she left a while back. I take it that you're Kumiko Oumae, yes?"

"Uh, yes." Kumiko nervously replied. "I'm here to get my starter Pokémon." On a day like this, where was the Professor? Wasn't she the one supposed to give out Pokémon?

"Great! Then follow me!" Niiyama gestured for Kumiko to go with her, heading for a door at the back of the lab.

With a push, the door easily swung open, revealing the great outdoors outside. As Kumiko walked through, her eyes darted back and forth between the Pokémon residing there, searching far and wide for a Pokémon that would fit her.

"All these Pokémon here are hatched from Eggs left behind at Daycares all around the world, which is why some of them are stronger or know moves they normally shouldn't." Niiyama explained "You can have any Pokémon you want, but one only. It's more engaging to befriend wild Pokémon throughout your journey rather than receiving them all at the start. Take your time and look for a Pokémon that suits you."

"I understand." Continuing her search for a partner, Kumiko walked around the field, her eyes resting on one Pokémon before moving on to another.

Bidoof? Too ordinary. Yamask? Too creepy. Slowpoke? Too slow.

Her search fruitless, Kumiko decided to rest under a tree for a while, but just as she was sitting down, she could hear something jumping beneath her.

"Mara-mara!" a high-pitched voice rang out, erasing Kumiko of her fatigue. Crouching down, she found herself face-to-face with a pair of yellow eyes belonging to a Maractus.

"Hey, little guy. Where did you come from?" Kumiko asked, though she knew she could get no answer.

"Ma-rac!" Jumping in the air, its body began to emit a rhythmic sound, akin to a pair of maracas being rattled.

"Judging by the look on its face, it clearly looks happy to see you." Niiyama strode over, a pleased look on her face "Would you consider it as your starter?"

Thinking back to the cacti she kept back at her home, then looking back at the Maractus standing in front of her, Kumiko made up her mind.

"Well, since I've had previous experience with non-sentient cacti before, I guess that I'll take this Maractus as my starter. There shouldn't really be much difference."

"Great!" Niiyama had a hint of relief on her face "I'll get Maractus' Pokéball back at the lab, along with a Pokédex for you." As she left for the building in front of them, Kumiko decided to sit down and get to know Maractus, her Maractus, a bit more.

"Hi, Maractus." Kumiko's voice was fraught with uncertainty as she wondered what to talk about with her new starter Pokémon "My name's Kumiko, and starting from today, I'll be your new Trainer. Nice to meet you, I guess?"

Unfazed by its Trainer's anxiety, Maractus started to jump up and down again, body rattling with excitement. Unfortunately, this meant that its spikes almost scratched Kumiko, who instinctively dodged away.

"Mara?" it inquired, unsure of why its Trainer seemed to avoid it. Perhaps she was afraid.

"Sorry, Maractus." Kumiko hastily apologized "Your spikes are sharp, and I didn't want you to cut me by accident."

"Rac-tus!" As if knowing that its trainer didn't mean to make it feel unwelcome, Maractus began jumping again, this time making sure to avoid close contact with her.

"Seems like you and Maractus make a good pair." Niiyama observed, returning with a Pokéball and what seemed to be an instrument tuner in hand.

"Uh, what's that tuner for?" Kumiko asked "Shouldn't I be getting a Pokédex? I already have a tuner at home"

"The 'tuner' I'm holding is actually a Pokédex, but it also serves as your Trainer ID and has various music-related functions such as an actual tuner." Niiyama explained, "Furthermore, to better assist new Trainers, all Pokédexes in production now include a Rotom to improve functionality." With Niiyama's guidance finished, the small display on the Pokédex flickered to life, revealing two eyes and a pixelated grin.

"Bzzzt, nice to meet you!" the Rotom greeted Kumiko through the Pokédex's speaker "I hope that I can be of great service on your journey from now on!"

Taking in Rotom's over-friendly hospitality, Kumiko muttered a brief thanks before taking it and Maractus' Pokéball from Niiyama, slipping the Pokédex into her bag.

"Well, it looks like that our journey begins now, Maractus, so let's get to it!" Kumiko addressed the Cactus Pokémon, which replied with a smile and a twirling jump. As it reached the apex of its leap, Kumiko recalled it back into its Pokéball, which then shrank as she attached it to her belt.

"Thanks for all the help, Ms. Niiyama. I'm sure that this will be a choice with no regrets!" With new declaration, Kumiko's voice was filled with a newfound declaration.

'You're welcome. Feel free to come back and visit if you have time, and good luck on your journey!" Niiyama replied, sending the teen off as she walked away.

"It's always a joy seeing the bond between Pokémon and Trainer blossom," Niiyama thought to herself "Just like when we first started, huh, Chihiro?"

* * *

As of the first chapter's publishing, this should be one of the first Hibike fanfics published after the arson attack on KyoAni on July 19th 2019. While it may seem in bad taste to publish such a lighthearted fic after such an atrocious incident, it is what I would believe KyoAni would want us to do: stay optimistic and hopeful in these trying times just like their protagonists. We should not only grieve for those who have passed, but also celebrate their achievements in life, and bringing joy to others is what they did best, and what we should do.

(A/N: Since I originally started to publish this fic for four weeks on another site, the copy there is already four chapters into the story. To remedy this gap, I will publish one (existing) chapter a day until Thursday, when a new chapter will be published, then my publishing rate will slow down to once per week. If you can't wait and want to read ahead, then go find it on that site (it's under the same name.))


	2. Chapter 2: Raindrops Keep Fallin'

As she exited the lab, Kumiko was ambushed again by a familiar face, though this time one that she was not pleased to see in any shape or form.

"Hey, Kumiko!" came the brash voice of one Shuichi Tsukamoto "If you're coming out of the lab, that means you must've gotten yourself a starter Pokémon. let's have a battle!"

"Geh." came Kumiko's flat response. Of all the inopportune times that her childhood 'friend' could have bumped into her, it just had to be right after she had got her starter.

"What's the matter? Too scared to fight?" Shuichi's clumsy attempt at a taunt came at no surprise to Kumiko, who was struggling not to facepalm at this embarrassing scenario. "Come on, I just got my starter yesterday. We're pretty much even at this point."

"Fine, if you insist." The only reason that Kumiko had even agreed to his challenge was that if she refused, he would continue to bug her for the rest of the day, which was not how she wanted to spend it.

"OK, let's go-" Shuichi's enthusiastic battle cry was cut short by Kumiko, who grabbed his arm just as he was about to reach for his Pokéball.

Shuichi was shocked "Wait! What the hell are you doing? Isn't that supposed to be illegal? Let go of me!"

Kumiko was unamused "We're standing outside of the lab right now. If we battle here, then there's a chance that we might get sued for destruction of property. Besides, I know a grass field where we can battle." With that, she dragged Shuichi down the road by the ear with her, his protests completely ignored.

* * *

A short walk later, they arrived at the field that Kumiko mentioned. Straightening himself up and rubbing his sore ear, he ran over to the other side.

"OK! As we only have one Pokémon each, this will be a one-on-one battle. First one to faint loses." he shouted across the field. Reaching for his sole Pokéball, he threw it towards the field "Freddy, I choose you!"

A Froakie materialized out of the Pokéball, shaking its head around for a moment before assuming a battle stance, looking towards its Trainer for further instructions.

"Isn't that a starter Pokémon from Kalos?" Kumiko asked Shuichi. "Besides, what sort of person would nickname their Pokémon 'Freddy'?" she thought to herself.

"Apparently some guy there bred a lot of Froakie eggs a while back, so the Kalos Daycare decided to send some of the surplus to the lab." Shuichi answered "And besides, Freddy's a good name! Don't trash it!"

"Tch. Looks like I spoke out again." Kumiko thought "Well, only someone like Shuichi would think that Freddy would be a good name for a Pokémon. Figures."

Grabbing her own Pokéball, Kumiko awkwardly threw it in a short arc as her Maractus sprang out from it, landing on the ground with a midair twirl.

"Battle begin!" Shuichi announced "Freddy, use Bubble!"

As Freddy fired a stream of bubbles from his mouth towards Maractus, Kumiko was at a loss at what to do.

"Maractus, dodge!" she managed to command at the last second. Obeying her order, Maractus leapt away from the incoming bubble barrage.

"Now, uhh…" Kumiko was left in an awkward position "What moves do you have?"

Fumbling for her Pokédex, Kumiko managed to get it out of her bag, and pointed it at her Maractus.

"Maractus, the Cactus Pokémon" the Rotomdex began to drone "Arid regions are their habitat. They move rhythmically, making a sound similar to maracas. This Maractus is male, and knows Peck, Absorb, Sweet Scent, and Wood Hammer."

"So it's a guy." Kumiko thought, suddenly remembering that she didn't ask Niiyama about her Pokémon's gender, but then focused back on the battle. Hearing that her Maractus knew Wood Hammer, she recalled that it was a powerful Grass-type move, albeit one that would also deal damage to the user "Maractus, use Wood Hammer!"

"Ma-ra!" With a jump, Maractus shot into the air, right arm illuminated with a green glow, which soon expanded to resemble a massive hammer.

"Leap away, Freddy!" Shuichi reacted, with his Froakie jumping up as soon as Maractus' attack slammed down, causing dirt to fly up in the air.

Maractus continued to charge up Wood Hammer, with Freddy dodging it then using Bubble, which Maractus also avoided. This cycle of attacks continued for a while, neither Pokémon gaining an advantage.

Shuichi's face was wracked with agitation at this stalemate, until he finally thought of a plan.

"Freddy, use Bounce!" he triumphantly ordered, knowing that if Maractus was hit, it would be knocked out in one shot by this powerful move. With a powerful thrust, Freddy sprang up into the air, almost disappearing from sight.

Kumiko was flabbergasted "What? You just remembered that your Froakie had Bounce? A move that would be super-effective against Maractus?"

Shuichi was oddly defensive "I've just had Freddy for a day! Go easy on me!"

"Yeah, well, I just got Maractus this morning, so no excuses there" Kumiko snarked back.

As Freddy came crashing down, Kumiko scrambled to come up with an idea to deal with the falling frog. It wasn't the best, but given the time she had to think of a solution, it could work if she timed it right.

"Maractus, charge up Wood Hammer, then raise it up in the air. As soon as I order you, smash it down into the ground." Kumiko knew that it would be very hard for Froakie to change where it was landing midair, so she could bank on that to score a guaranteed hit.

"Rac-tus!" With a hearty cry, Maractus began charging up Wood Hammer, then swung it up in the air.

"Freddy, try to dodge that Wood Hammer and land on top of Maractus!" Shuichi shouted in desperation, knowing that doing so was going to be challenging.

Freddy tried to use his arms to change direction, but only succeeded in moving away a little. With a "NOW!" from Kumiko, Shuichi could only stare in shock as Maractus' Wood Hammer crashed down, slamming Freddy into the ground with brute force.

When the dust settled, it became clear to all parties involved that Freddy was unable to battle anymore. Sighing, Shuichi recalled Freddy back into his Pokéball with a dejected look on his face.

"Well, that was a good battle" Shuichi conceded "Next time we meet, I'll be sure to beat you, so remember that!"

"Same to you" Kumiko agreed "By the way, where are you heading? You can't get stronger just by staying here."

"Once Freddy's rested up, I'm heading to the Gym in Onic City to start my badge challenge" Shuichi answered "I was planning to go to Eigve City's Gym, but apparently their Gym Leader is away for the time being, so it's currently closed."

Onic City and Eigve City were the two closest cities to Kumiko and Shuichi's hometown with Gyms, but based on what Shuichi just told her, it seemed that the most interesting way to go now was towards Onic City.

"Well, since I don't want to travel that far, I'll also head to Onic as well, but I'm not travelling with you" Kumiko declared "I don't want you to learn all my tricks, so neither of us will have an unfair advantage over the other."

"Fine by me." Shuichi was clearly struggling with squeezing those words out, but still managed to keep a straight face "I'm heading over to the lab since it has a healing machine. You should show your Maractus to your mom before you leave town. Most Trainers often don't get to see their parents for a long while and get homesick.

"Oh yeah!" Kumiko remarked, almost forgetting that her mother wanted to see her chosen starter. "Bye then!" Dashing back towards her house, she left Shuichi standing there, slightly confused about what just happened.

* * *

"Mom, I'm home!" Out of breath, Kumiko could only manage those three words before collapsing onto the couch in her family's living room.

"Hi honey! Did you manage to choose your starter?" Kumiko's mom asked her, curious as to whether her daughter managed to overcome her indecisiveness.

"Well, the Professor wasn't at the lab, but a friend of hers named Niiyama was there, and she helped me to choose a Pokémon." Kumiko explained "She also gave me a Pokédex as well."

"Oh! That should be Satomi Niiyama." Kumiko's mother exclaimed "She was quite a famous trainer about 15 years back, with numerous wins against powerful trainers from other regions. I hear that since she stopped travelling the world a while back, she's settled back in Octiva to pursue a career as a flautist in the Ongaku Orchestra."

The Ongaku Orchestra was the best orchestra in the world, with musicians from all over flocking to Octiva to even get a chance to join one of its lesser associated ensembles. Getting a seat in the orchestra was no easy feat: not only did an applicant have to be an expert musician, they also had to complete the Octivan League by defeating the eight Gym Leaders, Elite Four, and the Champion, who were all prodigies in music and battling, to even be considered. It was no wonder that Octiva was known as the 'Region of Music' across the world.

"Wow, I didn't know that the Professor had such well known friends." Kumiko noted, before remembering that she hadn't even shown her Pokémon to her mother yet.

"Oh, before we both forget, here's my first Pokémon!" Casually dropping Maractus' Pokéball onto the ground, he sprang out with a twirl.

"Mom, this is my new Pokémon Maractus." Kumiko introduced "Maractus, this is my mom."

"Oh, nice to meet you, Maractus. Please treat my daughter well!" With that compliment, Maractus did a happy twirl in the air, its body emitting a fast-paced rattling sound. Seeing that her mother was pleased with her choice of Pokémon, Kumiko was content to stay at home just a little longer, if only just to see her mother for a while more.

Unfortunately, all good things must eventually come to an end, and after eating a quick lunch with her mother and Maractus, Kumiko was at the doorstep about to leave again, this time for much longer.

"Well, I'm going out to see the world now, and I'll hopefully make some good memories with the people and Pokémon I meet along the way. Take care of yourself for me, Mom." Kumiko was barely managing to hold her emotions in, with her eyes even starting to have a hint of moisture in them.

"You too, dear. Make sure to call back often." Her mother was also trying to restrain her feelings as well "I want to hear about your travels every chance I get. Stay safe!" With a hug, mother and daughter bid each other farewell, and with a wave of hands, Kumiko was off to the great unknown in front of her.

* * *

A couple of hours on the road later, Kumiko arrived at Dacap Town, the midway point between her home in Relude Town and Onic City. Noting that it was almost sundown, Kumiko was about to head towards the Pokémon Center and rest there for the night, before spotting an oh-so-familiar figure heading down the road towards her.

Reina Kousaka.


	3. Chapter 3: From the New World

The girl walking towards her was no doubt Reina Kousaka. From the way she carried herself, her luscious purple eyes, the way her Corviknight-black hair perfectly fell down her shoulders, and her stunning pale blue dress, Kumiko could easily pick her out from even the most densely-packed crowd. Reina just radiated that aura of elegance and class no matter where she went.

Since Reina had attended the same middle school as Kumiko, they had played in the school's concert band together, and had just gotten to know each other better outside of band before their graduation. Ever since she laid eyes on her, Kumiko couldn't help but think about Reina every day, her beauty relentlessly charming her thoughts, resulting in a strong desire to be with her and satisfy her guilty pleasure.

At a loss for words, Kumiko could only let out a quiet 'ohhhh' from her mouth as Reina walked up to her, in awe at her natural beauty. The noticeable height difference between the two girls was of no concern as Reina locked her eyes with Kumiko's own gold ones.

"Miss Oumae, what are you doing here?" Reina's tone was oddly formal but inquisitive at the same time, but Kumiko paid no attention to that in her stupor of infatuation.

"Well… umm…" Her mouth nonfunctional, Kumiko could only sound out her infamous noises as Reina looked on, confused at the other girl's bizarre form of hesitation.

"Ah, I'm here on the way to Onic City." Managing to form a coherent sentence before lapsing back into noise mode, Kumiko was shocked at this sudden turn of events. "Of all the places I could've met Reina, it had to be here?" she wondered.

"Yes. As a matter of fact, I'm heading there as well." Reina's reply was short and to the point, but Kumiko was more concerned and embarrassed that her thoughts slipped out in front of the person she desired.

"Umm… OK. I was just thinking about-" A sudden 'BOOM' shook the town, interrupting Kumiko's ponderings. The two girls looked over at the source of the noise, where they could see dust swirling up in the air.

"That's where the amphitheatre is," Reina noted "It's where most people gather every night to listen to live performances. If something's happened there, then a lot of people will be affected."

Going over to the open-air stage, they could see that two men with Loudreds were harassing a middle-aged man carrying an accordion with a Chatot on his shoulder, who was standing in front of two Ralts, shielding them from the Big Voice Pokémon.

"Please don't hurt the twin Ralts," the older man pleaded "They wandered into town lost one day, and since we couldn't find their family, the townspeople decided to take care of them. They're still very young."

"Pah, who cares for your sob story, old man?" one of the two men dismissed. Upon closer inspection, they were wearing a getup similar to roadies, but the design on their T-shirts didn't resemble any band that Kumiko was familiar with. "The two babies there know Sing, which puts people and Pokémon to sleep. Boring."

"Nobody listens to such dull music these days." his companion added "Only old farts listen to classical music and all that jazz. What this town needs is the power of rock, so we're here to amp up tonight's performance!" The accompanying Loudred blasted out a bass line in agreement.

"What did you say about classical music?" Kumiko turned her head and looked at Reina. Her icy tone caused everyone present to stop what they were doing and look at her, as if she was a queen commanding her subjects. "I'll have you know that it is still enjoyed by many people around the world, and forcing people to only like one kind of music is insulting to a musician like myself."

"What's that you say, young miss? Don't you understand? Rock music is the best genre, and HTT is going to show it to the world!" the roadie fired back "Loudred, go show 'em who's boss!" On his command, the two Loudred stopped threatening the old man, his Chatot, and the two Ralts, instead scrambling towards Kumiko and Reina.

"Idina, stand by for battle," Reina reached for a Pokéball inside her bag and threw it in the direction of the approaching Pokémon, revealing a Froslass who elegantly glided down until she was hovering slightly above the ground.

"Kumiko, you should have a Pokémon, right?" Reina asked, sending Kumiko into a frenzy "Back me up here. I can't handle two Pokémon at once."

"Reina's asking me to help her? In battle?" The absurdity of Reina's request hit home towards Kumiko. Even during their middle school days, Reina had a Snorunt that her parents gifted her as a 10th birthday present. Despite not being allowed to go on a Pokémon journey yet, she nonetheless relentlessly researched battle strategies and grinded all she could in the local area, defeating every wild Pokémon who was unlucky enough to wander into town.

Over the years, her battle style grew stronger and more refined, and so did her Snorunt. If that absurdly strong Snorunt had evolved into a Froslass, then how strong had Reina become, and how could Kumiko's freshly-obtained Maractus even measure up to her?

"Uh, alright." Kumiko awkwardly responded, seeing that she could not defy the orders of her ice queen. "Maractus, go!" Tossing out Maractus' Pokéball, he sprang out with a twirl before settling on the ground next to Idina.

Taking out her Pokédex, Reina tapped a button on it, causing a hard light image of a trumpet to sprout from it. Placing the trumpet's mouthpiece to her lips, Reina played a section of a piece that Kumiko recognized: Winter from Vivaldi's Four Seasons.

Instantly, Idina formed a ball of ice between her hands, before firing an Ice Beam towards one of the Loudred, filling its mouth with the solid form of water.

"Wait, you ordered your Froslass to use Ice Beam by playing Vivaldi's Winter?" a confused Kumiko asked Reina "And the Pokédex can turn into a trumpet? What?"

"One of the tricks used by Trainers in this region is to correspond a short section of a music piece to a move, usually relating to the move's properties. That way, unless the opposing Trainer knows the piece and what it means, then they won't know what move they're up against." Reina answered "And your Pokédex can also create a solid projection of any instrument, which can be registered to a button for easy access."

After Reina's explanation cleared up what was going on, Kumiko could see that the other Loudred was rushing towards her Maractus, with a Bite attack charging up in its mouth.

"Maractus, sock it in the mouth with Wood Hammer!" Kumiko ordered. Maractus obeyed, charging up Wood Hammer in its right arm, then spun around before slamming it into Loudred's wide-open mouth, sending it flying back.

"Loudred, use Bite to get rid of the ice, then send an Uproar at them!" one of the roadies ordered, with the incapacitated Loudred crunching down on the ice in its mouth with a crackling "SHING!", before charging up its circular ears and sending a blast of sound towards its opponents.

Maractus dodged on its Trainer's command, but Idina remained still, completely unaffected by the attack.

"Oh yeah, Froslass is Ghost-type, which means that Normal-type moves such as Uproar don't have any effect on it." Kumiko realized, before calling for Maractus to aim another Wood Hammer at the noise-making Loudred, this time aiming for its ears.

Maractus hopped up, then did a forward-facing flip in midair before slamming down a Wood Hammer on Loudred's head, ending the Uproar. Its ally attempted to help it by using Bite, but its help was cut short by an Ice Beam from Idina.

"Your Maractus is getting weaker from using Wood Hammer so many times" Reina remarked, "If you want to preserve its health, then you should switch to using other moves." Seeing that one of the Loudred looked dazed, Kumiko decided to go for the easy knockout "Maractus, Absorb!"

A wave of green energy washed over Maractus before tendrils of verdant light flowed from the Loudred towards Maractus, restoring some of his health while knocking the opposing Pokémon out.

"Loudred!" one of the roadies cried out, hastily recalling his Pokémon before his companion was forced to do the same, courtesy of an Ice Beam from Idina.

"You may have knocked out our Pokémon, but our rock-solid will still shines through! Peace out!" With that, the grunts made a hasty retreat from the amphitheatre, leaving the subjects of their harassment alone.

"Oh, thank you, young Trainers," the older man said in gratitude "You've helped save those two poor Ralts, along with me and my beloved Chatot."

"It's nothing, really." Kumiko was wracked with exhaustion after that frantic battle, as it was the first time that it was more than a matter of who won and who lost. "We were just passing by and saw that something happened, so we decided to check it out. Saving you and the Ralts was just the right thing to do."

Feeling a tugging sensation at her feet, Kumiko looked down and saw that one of the Ralts was clinging to her left leg, unwilling to let go. The other one was doing the same as well, only that the recipient of its affections was Reina.

"Oh my," the old man remarked, "It seems that those two Ralts are quite friendly with you two, being their rescuers and all. Since they both don't have Trainers, would you two like to take care of one each?"

"Um, well…" Kumiko's voice stung with hesitation, but Reina cut straight to the chase.

"Thank you for the kind offer. We'll see that these two Ralts will be taken care of by us" she said with no delay. Seeing that the two Ralts were happy with the decision, Kumiko had to accept it nonetheless, but she was still pleased with this turn of events. After all, it wasn't every day that a Pokémon you rescued joined your team as thanks.

After the man left with his Chatot, the two girls were left alone in the amphitheatre, the setting sun framing the stage with an orange and purple backdrop.

"Kumiko," Reina turned to the other girl, who was sent into a frenzy as she tried to process the fact that Reina had just called her by her first name. The girl who was normally so formal and polite when speaking to others dropped all that in front of her.

Oblivious to Kumiko's thoughts about her, Reina continued on "We should nickname our new Ralts. Since they're supposed to be siblings, we should go with a common theme between them to match the bond between us."

Did she really just say that?

Kumiko's heart was pounding at Reina's choice of words. After their battle against the punk roadies, it seemed that the so-called 'ice queen' was now acting more friendly towards her. Did something change when she wasn't looking?

"Uhh… any suggestions? I'm completely open," Kumiko awkwardly responded. Despite her brain starting to work properly again, Kumiko was still under Reina's spell, unable to do anything else.

"Remember our free choice piece we played back in middle school for the competition?" Reina asked.

"Ah, Orpheus in the Underworld? So you're suggesting that we nickname the two Ralts Orpheus and Eurydice, after the two lovers?" Noting that connection, Kumiko froze up. There was no reason that Reina would randomly choose those two names, unless…

"Precisely," Reina's voice had a more joyous tone to it, apparently happy that Kumiko had gotten the gist of what she was saying "I scanned the Ralts with my Pokédex earlier, and found that the one attached to you is male, while the one clinging to my leg is female, so yours should be named Orpheus and mine Eurydice."

Despite not going for the answer that she had hoped for, Kumiko was still pleased with the choice of names that Reina had suggested "Yeah, that's a good idea." Below them, the two Ralts cried out in agreement of their new names.

After their conversation about names, Reina suddenly remembered something "By the way, you haven't nicknamed your Maractus yet? Shouldn't you have done that earlier?"

Struck with the realization, Kumiko was caught off-guard "Oh! I totally forgot about that after everything that happened today! I'll come up with a nickname for him soon!"

Noting the rising moon, Reina knew that it was starting to get late out "We should get some rest now, Kumiko. If we get to the Pokémon Center in time, we can also get Pokéballs from the Pokémart to capture Orpheus and Eurydice."

Kumiko was pleased to know that despite her mask as a relentless dynamo of determination, Reina Kousaka still needed rest after all.

Hidden behind them, a green-haired Pokémon smiled to itself, watching the two girls interact. Their bond would prove to be very interesting indeed.

* * *

"I'm sorry, there's only one room left for tonight. Would you two girls mind sharing?"

After buying several Pokéballs each and capturing Orpheus and Eurydice at the Pokémon Center, Kumiko and Reina arrived at the counter to reserve rooms for the night, where they heard the shocking news.

"Uh… well…" Kumiko's voice was stained with hesitation once more, but Reina took the initiative again "Very well. We will share the room between us."

"How wonderful! But I'll have to warn you, there's only one bed in the room, so you two'll have to decide what to do."

Crying out in unison, both girls now had the same reaction: "WHAT?!"

* * *

(A/N: In case you missed the reference, Reina's Froslass is named after Idina Menzel, the singer of Let it Go from Frozen. The Pokémon of other characters will also have nicknames corresponding to musical terms or references to songs. See if you can guess their meaning or where they come from!)


	4. Chapter 4: Humoresque

Settling into their room for the night, Kumiko and Reina were unsure of what to do next.

Due to an unexpected turn of events, they now had to share a single bedroom, and if that wasn't crazy enough, the room only had one bed. Since neither of them wanted to sleep uncomfortably after the day's hectic events, they both had no other choice but to sleep together tonight.

"I'll get ready for bed first," Reina told Kumiko "Then it's your turn next." With that, she strode into the bathroom with her toiletries and a change of clothes.

After Reina locked the door, Kumiko let out a sigh of relief. Being in the same room as Reina really made her tense up. Not that it was a bad thing.

Sending out her Maractus, she sat down in front of him on the floor, leaning against the bedroom wall.

"So, a lot happened today," Kumiko recounted to Maractus, who nodded in agreement "I met you, then Shuichi appeared and we had a battle, then it just so happens that Reina was in the same area as us, and we had a double battle against some roadies harassing two Ralts, which we then caught."

Back home, since she didn't have a lot of friends, Kumiko often talked to the cacti she kept on her desk. Now that she had Maractus, it seemed that she was projecting the cacti's responsibilities onto him.

"Reina also suggested that I give you a nickname," Kumiko continued on "I'll list out some suggestions and you react if you hear one that you like, OK?"

Twirling around in agreement, Maractus settled back down on the floor before Kumiko started rattling off suggestions.

"Mariachi?" Kumiko began, eliciting no reaction from Maractus. "Maracas?" Again, still no reaction. Guess those were too obvious, punning off Maractus' name and musical terms. "Opuntia?" Now Kumiko was reaching, recalling the species name of a type of cactus she kept at home. At this rate, Maractus seemed bored with the whole exercise.

Struggling to come up with options, Kumiko was about to give up when Reina stepped out of the bathroom, pitch-black hair glistening with droplets of water. Even dressed in her pyjamas, she still looked just as beautiful and elegant as ever in Kumiko's eyes.

"How about Marcato?" Reina suggested, "The symbol used to denote marcato on notes in music scores resembles the spikes on Maractus' body." (Marcato symbol = ^)

"Did Reina overhear my conversation with Maractus while she was in the bathroom?" Kumiko pondered.

"Well, yes. These walls aren't soundproof after all." Reina commented, causing Kumiko to realize that she had spoken her thoughts out loud again "So what do you think, Kumiko? Is it a good choice for Maractus?"

Looking over to said Pokémon for consideration, Kumiko saw that he was twirling around in delight, apparently satisfied with the name that Reina suggested.

"Well, Marcato it is then!" Kumiko declared, causing the newly-named Pokémon to jump around in delight.

"Sorry to interrupt your moment, Kumiko, but isn't it now your turn to use the bathroom? I'm already finished now."

Caught up in thinking of nicknames, Kumiko had quickly forgotten about settling down for the night "Oh crap! I'll go right now! Thankfully you went already, or I'd be holding you up!"

* * *

Once Kumiko was finished with her nightly routine, it was time to go to sleep. Sitting down on the lone bed, she looked up to face Reina. From her point of view, the shorter girl now looked much taller than her.

"So, who's sleeping on the bed tonight? Should we play rock-paper-scissors to decide? Draw lots?" Kumiko asked.

"We're both sleeping on the bed. Neither you nor I want to sleep on the floor, no matter how soft it may seem" Reina was adamant in her response "There are two blankets, so we don't have to share."

"Is this really happening?" Kumiko asked herself. At the rate that events were currently unfolding, Reina would be asking to marry her next.

However, the only sound that came out of Kumiko's mouth was a soft "HWAHH". Getting to sleep in the same bed as the girl of your dreams was a dream come true, and despite her fears, Kumiko knew that if she missed this chance, then it most likely wouldn't come again.

Laying down on the bed, Kumiko felt another weight pressing down as Reina did the same. Drawing the blanket over herself, Kumiko felt her eyelids starting to get heavy as Reina switched off the lights, leaving them in darkness.

"Goodnight, Kumiko" Reina quietly whispered.

"Goodnight, Reina" Kumiko managed to respond before finally drifting asleep.

* * *

As the first crack of dawn peered into the room, Kumiko's eyes fluttered open as she found that she couldn't get out of bed at all. Was she coming down with a case of sleep paralysis?

Managing to turn over, she found herself face-to-face with a still-asleep Reina, who was using the taller girl as an impromptu body pillow, wrapping her arms around Kumiko's midsection. Her sleeping face was as smooth as freshly-frozen ice, but her innocent demeanour while sleeping completely melted her stoic facade away.

Kumiko was about to wake Reina up when the smaller girl leaned closer to her, her face shifting dangerously close to Kumiko's own. Kumiko tried to squirm away, but Reina kept inching closer until Kumiko was at the edge of her side of the bed.

Struggling to keep herself composed, she braced for the moment that Reina's lips would touch her own until Reina's eyes opened, letting Kumiko have a good view of her regal purple eyes.

Her gaze was still lidded until she saw Kumiko in front of her, cheeks as red as a Pikachu's. Freeing her arms from Kumiko's waist in a frantic movement, she could feel the blood rushing to her face, turning her pale skin to a bright crimson flush.

"Ex-excuse me" Reina awkwardly stammered out. To be caught in a situation like this was unfitting for a person who valued her own pride above all else, despite wanting to remain in this position for longer. Curtly standing up, she immediately made a Combeeline to the bathroom, frantically locking the door behind her.

Panting and gasping for air, Reina found herself deeply embarrassed as she leaned against the door, hoping that her body weight could keep it shut. That feeling she felt when clinging to Kumiko was unlike any other that she had experienced before, and far more intense than any other emotion. With how good it made her feel, she wanted to experience that sensation again.

But first, she had to sort herself out. She wasn't going to accomplish anything just by standing in the bathroom.

After calming themselves down and making a silent mutual vow not to speak of what happened this morning, Kumiko and Reina got changed and had a hearty breakfast with Cracker Barrel Cheese bits at the Pokémon Center's cafeteria, both avoiding each other's gaze.

"I still have unfinished business here in Dacap Town," Reina flatly told Kumiko, not wanting to look at the other girl for fear of triggering a mutual blush on both of their faces "You can go where you need to without me."

"Okay." Kumiko responded in a similar tone "I was planning to leave town today anyways. See you around." Standing up and leaving the table, Kumiko awkwardly waved at Reina, who waved back before she exited the Pokémon Center in a janky dash with her eyes wide open.

Outside of the Pokémon Center, Kumiko breathed a sigh of relief. The tension in the room was so thick between Reina and her that even a Slash couldn't put a dent into it. Thinking back to last night's battle with the roadies, she couldn't shake the memory of how strong and elegant Reina was during every moment, weaving through the chaotic heat of battle with cold and delicate precision.

If she wanted to get closer to Reina, Kumiko needed to get stronger in both music and battles, so that the other girl could recognize her as an equal in all aspects, not someone inferior to look down on. The Gym challenge would be a good start, giving her the chance to prove her strength in battles, but how she could push the limits of her musical aptitude was an enigma for another time.

Setting those thoughts of how to win the heart of her desired aside, Kumiko continued on her journey, now with a purpose in mind and a destination to head towards.

* * *

After leaving the outskirts of Dacap Town, Kumiko was making her way down the path to Onic City when she heard a pair of twin screams on her left.

Running over, she saw two girls her age cowering behind a Sunkern and a Stufful, who were in between them and a Poliwrath, menacingly advancing towards them with a glare of pure rage in its eyes.

"Hanasaku, use Absorb!" one of the girls commanded. The Sunkern in front of her was bathed with green light before emerald tendrils washed over Poliwrath's body, but they did little to stop it.

"Tuba-kun, try and Tackle it now that it's distracted!" the other girl ordered the Stufful. The Pokémon rushed over to the Poliwrath, ramming it in the middle of its belly with all its might, but failing to do much damage.

Seeing that both girls were fighting a hopeless battle against a much stronger opponent, Kumiko couldn't just stand by while they got absolutely demolished. Even though she wasn't a good Trainer, the least she could do was even the playing field a little. Readying Orpheus and Marcato's Pokéballs, Kumiko steadied herself before throwing them out.

"Marcato, use Wood Hammer! Orpheus, use Confusion! Aim at the Poliwrath!" Kumiko ordered, watching as the two Pokémon aim their attacks at the Tadpole Pokémon, stopping it in its tracks and distracting it from its original targets.

Kumiko's timely diversion gave the other two girls time to move out of the danger zone, so they regrouped behind her, hoping that their saviour would continue to protect them. However, after being momentarily stunned by Orpheus and Marcato's joint attacks, the wild Poliwrath had recovered and lunged towards the group, both fists charged up with Dynamic Punch.

Another Confusion from Orpheus knocked it sideways, while Marcato slammed it from above with Wood Hammer. The Poliwrath attempted to get up, but a Sing from Orpheus followed by an Absorb from Marcato quickly put it out of commission.

Complimenting her Pokémon for their teamwork and coordination before recalling them, Kumiko escorted the two other girls from the area, both of them holding their Pokémon in their hands. Once they got away from the clearing, all three of them sat down on the ground, exhausted from that frenetic scuffle.

"Whew. That was a close one!" the girl holding the Sunkern breathed out. Wiping off the sweat from her forehead, her hand swept through her brown hair, tanned skin reflecting the morning sun. Her pink shirt was also caked with sweat, and her pale blue skirt was crumpled from all the action.

"Thanks for saving us! You really helped us get out of a pinch there!" the other girl holding the Stufful chimed in. A mint-green bow with light green polka dots was clipped into her light-brown hair, with a single strand of it sticking above her head, while her short frame was covered with a pale green shirt and khaki shorts. "My name's Midori, and this is Hazuki!" she gestured to the other girl, who waved at her.

"I'm Kumiko. Nice to meet you two," Kumiko introduced herself, not wanting them to get a wrong impression of her "Don't worry about it too much. It was just a lucky break that allowed me to save you two. I'm not a particularly talented Trainer."

"But the way your Pokémon moved around was so cool!" Hazuki interjected "They worked together to knock out that Poliwrath without needing your help, and you didn't seem afraid at all when you rushed in and helped us!" Despite Kumiko's objections, Hazuki was clearly impressed with what she saw.

"Uh… I…" Kumiko tried to defend herself, but couldn't think of a good rebuttal to Hazuki's points, so she tried to change the subject "Where are you two heading? Seems like that you're on a Pokémon journey as well."

"We're both heading to Onic City," Midori answered, perking up at Kumiko's question "We're looking to challenge the Gym there and test our strength!"

"I'm also heading there as well, after a friend told me that's where the nearest Gym is. Initially, I wasn't so sure of doing the Gym challenge myself, but I realized that it would be a good method to improve my skills alongside my Pokémon" Kumiko confessed.

"That's the spirit!" Midori lighted up, grabbing Hazuki and Kumiko's hands with her own, much to the latter's chagrin. "We're all gonna become strong Trainers together! Midori likes this declaration of ambition!"

Kumiko's stomach began growling.

"Uhh… shouldn't we break for lunch first? My stomach is declaring its hunger right now." she asked awkwardly, much to the amusement and laughter of the other two girls.

* * *

(A/N: After seeing the Cracker Barrel Cheese tweet, I JUST had to include a reference to the snack in today's chapter, despite never eating a morsel of their products. My corporate shill game is on point.)


	5. Chapter 5: Tsubasa wo Kudasai

After a hearty lunch courtesy of Hazuki and Midori, the two girls decided to accompany Kumiko along the way to their shared destination of Onic City. Seeing as there was little else to do, they decided to strike up small talk to make the journey pass by quicker.

"Where do you come from, Kumiko?" Hazuki asked, eager to learn more about her new companion and saviour. "Midori and I are both from Dacap Town, and we've known each other for quite a while, since we live close to each other."

"I live in Relude Town. It's quite close to Dacap, but nothing much happens there. It's only since going on a journey that life became more interesting for me." Kumiko answered, thinking back to how much had happened just on her first day adventuring. "Do you two have any hobbies? I mostly tend to the cacti I keep at home and play the euphonium, but not much else."

"Oh! You play an instrument as well?" came Midori's pleased reply "Midori plays the contrabass, while Hazuki-chan plays tennis!"

"Uh, I'm pretty sure that tennis is not an instrument, Midori," Hazuki sweatdropped, exasperated at her friend's eccentric tendencies. "It's true that I like tennis, but recently Midori got me into playing the tuba. She's got a lot of instruments at home, so I decided to try some of them out, and I found the tuba quite fun to play."

"It's quite rare for someone to try out an instrument such as the tuba on their own," Kumiko commented "Usually, people are assigned instruments at school or their parents have them learn one."

"I've been playing the tuba for a month, so I'm not as good compared to Midori," Hazuki continued "She's been playing the bass ever since middle school and she's very talented at it, so my goal is that I'll be skilled enough to play alongside her one day."

"That's an admirable goal, Hazuki." Kumiko complimented "Even though I've been playing the euphonium for about seven years now, I'm still quite aimless when it comes to any eupho-related targets. I sometimes feel that I'm just stuck with playing the eupho because that's what I'm supposed to do."

Kumiko thought back to when she first started playing the euphonium, where she was only given the role since nobody else wanted to play it. Being the passive person that she was, she accepted her duty and stuck with it to this day.

"Don't be so down, Kumiko-chan" Midori tried to reassure her "You'll find your reason for playing one day. It just takes some people longer to do it."

"Thanks, Midori. Coming from someone like you, that means a lot to me." Her spirits lifted up by the smaller girl, Kumiko seemed more upbeat as the three girls continued talking, their conversation carrying them on the way to Onic City.

* * *

Time flew by as the three girls walked on the beaten path, with conversations ranging from the inane to the profound between them making the journey seem shorter. Despite all this talk, Midori's attention was starting to wane, so she started to focus on everything around her, including a certain charm on Kumiko's bag.

"Is that a Tuba-kun plush you have there?" The short girl squealed at the plushie, her loose strand of hair waving around as she did so "Oh my gosh! I'm such a big fan of the series!"

Noticing Midori's enthusiasm, Kumiko decided to humor her "Yup. Rolled it first try at the gashapon machine, though I really wish there was a Eupho-kun plush. Tuba-kun's the next best thing."

"How can you say Tuba-kun's the next best thing? Tuba-kun's the only best thing there is! He's so cool that I named my Stufful after him!" At this point, there was no stopping Midori's glee-filled rant, so Kumiko and Hazuki just decided to let her be.

With Midori's continuous ramblings about Tuba-kun carrying on in the background, the girls continued to walk until they saw the roofs of multiple buildings poking out from the distance, cutting through the thick foliage that previously occupied most of their field of view.

"Look! That should be Onic City!" Dazzled by all the buildings in front of her, some of which were taller than she had ever seen before, Hazuki was awestruck. So this was the big city that she had always dreamed of seeing!

Conversely, Kumiko was much less interested "Seriously? _That's_ Onic? I thought it would be bigger than this." '_Though it's much larger than any town I've seen before_' she silently noted to herself.

"What are we waiting for? Let's go forth and prove ourselves-" Midori's enthusiasm tried to ring through the air, but was prematurely stifled by a reminder from Kumiko.

"Since we all took part in a battle beforehand, shouldn't we at least go heal our Pokémon at a Pokémon Center first? We don't want to face a strong opponent with our weaker and injured Pokémon."

"Oh, sorry, sorry." Waving both her hands, Midori's childish method of apology made both Kumiko and Hazuki laugh, and the three of them headed towards the Pokémon Center.

Upon arriving, Kumiko noticed two figures standing in front of the Pokémon Center, one familiar and one unknown.

"Well excuuuuuse me, princess," the all-too-familiar voice of Natsuki Nakagawa rang "It's not my fault that your Furfrou _just_ happened to bump into me and make me spill my drink on it!"

"But it was you who wasn't looking forwards, so your clumsy ass tripped on Coloratura and ruined her Debutante trim! Did you know how long it took to book an appointment at the Minant City salon? Now it's all ruined thanks to you!"

The first thing that Kumiko noticed about the other girl talking to Natsuki was that she had a comically oversized yellow ribbon rested on top of her shoulder-length light brown hair. Her pink T-shirt had the words 'My Staple Food is Love' written on it, and was complemented by a blue denim skirt.

Seeing the aggravated expression on Natsuki's face, Kumiko was about to leave the scene before things got rough, but as she tried to stealthily avoid her friend, Natsuki turned over and cheerily waved at her friend.

"Hey Kumiko!" Despite the hairy situation she was in, Natsuki's tone of voice was still as upbeat as ever "I see that you bagged yourself some ladies. They may be on the short side, but a harem's a harem alright! Glad to see that you're starting to take some initiative."

"Ehh… Natsuki, you've got the wrong idea here," Kumiko was flabbergasted at her friend's choice of words "They're not my girlfriends. Well yes, they are my girl friends, but not my girlfriends, if you catch my drift." Kumiko's awkward explanation didn't seem to help matters at all, and only seemed to complicate matters even more.

"Hey! Get back here and fix the mess you've made! I don't want to wait another three months for an appointment at the salon!" From what Kumiko could see, the ribbon-wearing girl was practically fuming at Natsuki, but she seemed to take it in stride.

"Alright princess. Let's take this conversation somewhere else. We can't disturb my lovely kouhai like this." Sending out her Espurr, Natsuki touched the other girl and her Furfrou, who was still dripping wet with an unidentified liquid.

"Hey, wait! What are you doing? Get your hands off me, you-" With a burst of psychic energy, both girls and their Pokémon disappeared from view, whisked away to parts unknown.

"_What was that all about?_" Kumiko wondered.

* * *

After that random encounter with her friend, Kumiko, Hazuki, and Midori checked into the Pokémon Center and got their Pokémon healed up back to full condition, ready to take on the Gym only to realize that it was almost sundown. After a dinner at the Center, the three girls decided that it would be wiser to take a break first rather than attempt to challenge the Gym this late.

Settling into their shared room for the night, thankfully stocked with three beds this time, the trio made it through the rest of the night without any awkward situations. After a quick breakfast the next day, all three of them were now ready to tackle their first Gym.

Even with consulting the map on her phone, Kumiko was still getting lost in the big city. The roads were much more complex than Relude Town's, with back alleys and dead ends making what was supposed to be a simple journey seem like a daunting jaunt.

Frustrated that they were getting nowhere, Kumiko was about to suggest to Hazuki and Midori that they should stop for a while and figure out just where they were, but she saw a man passing by with an Alolan Marowak.

"He looks familiar with the area. Maybe we could ask him about where the gym is," Sapphire whispered to Kumiko, who nodded at her suggestion.

Just as she was about to ask the man, he spoke first "Ah, are you three looking for the this city's Gym? It's just nine blocks ahead, then three blocks right, and five blocks left after that."

"Uh... thank you very much. We'll be on our way." As the man walked away, Kumiko could suddenly feel chills going down her spine. Despite his plain appearance of a gray wool vest over a white dress shirt, khaki pants, and brown leather shoes topped off with plain glasses and a mop of unruly black hair, there was this aura around him that seemed to radiate power and authority even when he wasn't trying.

Shaking that strange feeling off her, Kumiko gestured to Hazuki and Midori to follow here as they walked in the direction of the Gym, ready to face their first challenge of many.

* * *

Upon entering the Gym, the first thing that Kumiko felt were strong blasts of wind that nearly knocked her off balance, trying to pin her down to the floor. Stumbling to keep upright, she managed to keep her hair from being too much of a tangled mess before the winds abruptly stopped. Finally stable again, she looked up to see gigantic industrial-scale fans mounted on the walls and ceiling, their massive fan blades slowly coming to a halt.

"Hello," A kind voice rang through the Gym, somehow managing to fill the arena with sound despite its soft volume. "Are you three here for the Gym challenge?"

Kumiko looked around, and soon spotted the voice's source. A young woman, slightly older than her, was standing on the other end of the Gym. She was holding a flute in her hands, with a Tailow perched on top of it. If she remembered correctly, this Gym specialized in Flying-type Pokémon.

Kumiko was about to answer her question, but Hazuki jumped at the call "Yes! Yes we are! We three are going to challenge this Gym!" she confidently declared. Her enthusiasm sharply contrasted with Kumiko's hesitation and Midori's adoration for the Gym Leader's kindness.

"That's great. Do any of you have Gym Badges yet?" the Gym Leader asked while walking over "Oh, before I forget, my name's Kotoko. Nice to meet you three."

"Do you have any Badges, Kumiko?" Hazuki quietly questioned, to which Kumiko silently shook her head, "All three of us don't have any badges." she told the Gym Leader.

"Alright, then I'll use my beginner team when facing the three of you. Which one of you will go first?"

The rookie trio deliberated amongst themselves for a short while, until Midori suddenly shoved Hazuki out to face the Gym Leader, but the energetic girl seemed unfazed at the daunting prospect.

"I'll go first!" Hazuki confidently declared "Today will mark the beginning of the first chapter in my Pokémon journey!"

"That's great!" Kotoko smiled "The rules for this battle are that each person is only allowed to use two Pokémon at most, but the challenger can switch anytime they want. The first person whose Pokémon are knocked out loses."

She returned back to the other side of the gym, prompting Hazuki to ready her Pokéball. With that, the referee standing by the sidelines announced the start of the Gym battle.

"Pokémon battle! Ready? Go!"

* * *

(A/N: In case any Eupho fanwork creators (writers, artists, cosplayers, YouTubers, etc.) are interested, I've created a Discord server for us like-minded creative types to discuss and share ideas about our projects. Link is /7Yx4FKK )


	6. Chapter 6: Defying Gravity

Hazuki threw out the Pokéball clasped in her hand "Go, Hanasaku!"

The Sunkern inside burst out with a joyful cry, landing on the Gym floor and prepared himself for further instructions from its Trainer after steadying himself.

"Taillow, blow them away!" Kotoko commanded. Said Pokémon currently perched on the Gym Leader's flute leapt from it, gliding around in the air before landing in front of Hanasaku.

"Both Pokémon are now on the battlefield. Battle begin!" the referee announced.

"Hanasaku, use Absorb!" Hazuki ordered her Pokémon, who shot out green tendrils of light towards the Gym Leader's Taillow.

"Taillow, dodge the Absorb!" Upon hearing its Trainer's directions, the Tiny Swallow Pokémon obeyed them, taking flight and gracefully flew around the Absorb beams, navigating around them with ease. Flying above the battlefield, Taillow watched its opponent shake its head in confusion, clearly having never dealt with an opponent in flight before.

"Swoop down and use Peck!" its Trainer called, to which Taillow dutifully responded, diving towards its opponent beak-first.

"Hanasaku, when it comes close, use Absorb again!" Midori responded, and the Seed Pokémon shot out its attack again, which clashed with the Gym Leader's Taillow.

When the dust settled from the collision, it became apparent who the victor of that clash was. Though he was still standing, Hanasaku looked all the worse from wear, while his opponent remained relatively unscathed.

"Now, Taillow! Finish up with another Peck!" While Hanasaku was still struggling to recover from the previous attack's impact, Taillow rushed forward again. Before he could even react, Hanasaku was down for the count, knocked out by Taillow's decisive blow.

"The challenger's Sunkern has fainted!" the referee concluded.

"Oh no! Hanasaku, are you all right?" Recalling him back into his Pokéball, Hazuki was unsure of what to do next.

"Do you have any other Pokémon?" the Gym Leader asked.

"N-No. Hanasaku's the only Pokémon I have." Feeling disappointed with her performance in her first Gym battle, Hazuki resisted the urge to cry, instead continuing to stand resolutely in the face of defeat. "Can I come back and challenge you again after I catch another Pokémon?" she asked.

"Of course. You are most welcome to challenge the Gym however many times you want until you get a badge." the Gym Leader answered, renewing Hazuki's inner confidence.

"That's great, then! I'll come back once I capture another Pokémon and train some more, and next time I'll be sure to win!" Her energy restored, Hazuki knew what she had to do next. Stepping back to where her friends were standing, she now had a newfound drive and purpose.

"Um... can I withdraw from my current challenge? I only have one Pokémon with me." Midori's voice nervously asked. From what she saw during Hazuki's battle, if she only went in with Tuba-kun, then she would be defeated rather easily. Besides, the Normal and Fighting-type Tuba-kun would not fare well against Flying-type Pokémon.

"Yes you can. Do you have two Pokémon with you?" The Gym Leader looked over at Kumiko, whose silence during the entire affair almost made her seem like she wasn't there at all. Hearing the Gym Leader speak to her, Kumiko reacted with a brief "Ah."

"Well, yes. I've got two Pokémon." Kumiko patted the Pokéballs in her bag, checking that they were still there. Knowing that her companions were unable to bail her out, she could only step forward, ready to be judged through the trial of battle. Readying Orpheus' Pokéball, she threw it out, allowing the Ralts inside to land on the Gym's floor.

The Gym Leader's Taillow returned back to its Trainer, who gave it a sip of Fresh Water from a water bottle. Its health restored, it flew back to the battlefield, ready to face its second challenger today.

"Battle begin!" the referee announced.

"Orpheus, use Confusion!" Kumiko ordered. The Feeling Pokémon blasted out a wave of psychic energy towards its opponent, who dodged it with little fanfare. Upon command from its Trainer, Taillow rushed forward with a Peck, clearly replicating the strategy from its last battle.

Seeing the pattern that was forming, Kumiko barely worked out a counter-strategy in time "Use Double Team!" she hastily called out, hoping that this impromptu plan could work out in her favor.

One image of Orpheus rapidly split into ten, and even though Taillow flew straight for where Orpheus was previously standing, the Ralts standing in his original position was just a mirage that it passed straight through, leaving Taillow scrambling to halt its momentum.

Seeing the state that her opponent's Pokémon was in, Kumiko could now see the opportunity to gain an advantage "Orpheus, Sing!"

An entrancing melody came out from one of the 'doubles'. Hearing that the sound was coming from only one direction, Taillow rushed towards the sound's source, but that proved to be its downfall. Before it could attack, Orpheus' special move had already put it to sleep.

"Hammer it with Confusion until it faints!" Seeing the opponent's Pokémon unable to move, Kumiko could now freely order Orpheus to attack it without any fear of retaliation. After a barrage of psychic strikes, Taillow was down for the count.

"That was a good strategy, luring in my Taillow like that and using Sing. It's not common for beginners to employ tricks like that." the Gym Leader complimented Kumiko as she withdrew her Pokémon back into its Pokéball.

Despite the glowing praise, Kumiko somehow felt that she was unworthy of it "It's just something that I thought up on the fly, not any sort of grand plan or something."

"I've known Trainers who've been battling far longer than you that couldn't plan out something like this." the Gym Leader replied, readying her second Pokémon "Take off, Wingull!"

The Seagull Pokémon emerged from its Pokéball, its wings folding out as it did so. Kumiko noticed that for some reason, it never seemed to move its wings when flying, as if it was being carried by some sort of wind. Unfettered by that fact, she continued to focus on the battle at hand.

"Use Confusion!" she ordered Orpheus, who shot a blast of psychic energy at the Gym Leader's Wingull. Unfazed by the approaching attack, it just turned on the spot and shot forward in another direction.

"H-how? According to all known laws of aviation, there is no way that a Flying-type Pokémon can…" Looking at the seemingly impossible aerial stunts that Wingull had pulled, Kumiko was at a loss for words to explain what happened.

"Beats me. A friend of mine traded me this Wingull from Galar. Apparently they all fly like that." the Gym Leader shrugged, then looked back at her aforementioned Pokémon "Use Supersonic!"

A burst of high-pitched sound emanated from Wingull's open beak, heading directly towards Orpheus. Despite his best efforts to avoid it, the Ralts was soon Confused by the shrill soundwave.

Panicking, Kumiko was unsure of what to do next "Orpheus, are you alright? Try to use a Confusion!"

The Feeling Pokémon attempted to fire out the attack, but ended up collapsing on the floor, hurting himself. Seeing no way that the fledgeling challenger could win this battle, the Gym Leader ordered her Wingull to land the decisive blow.

"Use Wing Attack, deciso formation!"

The Wingull charged and struck Orpheus, launching him into the air. Instead of letting the Ralts fall, it instead sliced him multiple times in midair before diving down and slamming him into the ground with one last attack. After the final impact, it was clear that Orpheus was in no condition to battle anymore.

"You did great, Orpheus." Kumiko praised as she returned him, while also readying her second Pokéball "Marcato, finish what he started!"

The Maractus sprang out of his Pokéball with a spin, then landed on the ground after doing a somersault. Shaking his arms around joyfully, Marcato then shifted his gaze on the Pokémon that had downed his teammate.

Circling above the ground, Wingull looked down on its opponent, wondering what it was about to do next. They locked gazes with each other, neither of them making a move until Wingull heard its Trainer's orders "Use Supersonic!"

Wingull blasted a high-pitched tone from its beak again, emulating the opening part of its strategy against Orpheus a few moments back. Instead of panicking again, Kumiko could now clearly see the pattern in the Gym Leader's attacks, and was now able to act with clarity "Marcato, don't attack! Jump around and rattle your body!"

Despite her orders seeming counterintuitive, Marcato still obeyed his Trainer, trusting in her judgement. As the Supersonic waves closed in, the rattling sound coming from Marcato rang through his body as he jumped around, preventing him from being Confused by the incoming attack.

When Wingull was unable to continue firing anymore, Marcato ceased his jumping and rattling, returning to standing around and fixing his gaze on the opposing Pokémon. Judging her options, Kumiko realized that they were quite limited. Wood Hammer wouldn't be able to hit the Wingull at this range, and based on Hazuki's performance in her battle, Absorb would be easily dodged. With no other options left, Kumiko decided to go for the safer one "Use Absorb!"

Green tendrils shot out of Marcato's body and encircled the Wingull, but it managed to dodge all of them with ease. Seeing that Wingull was closing in on Marcato, Kumiko decided to seize this moment "Marcato! Switch to Wood Hammer!"

The green energy from Marcato's fingertips coalesced into the shape of a hammer, and as soon as Wingull entered striking distance for an attack, Maracto swung its arm and pummeled it into the ground. Despite that powerful attack, Wingull was still able to keep fighting, and after a short while it had recovered enough to continue flying aloft, waiting for its Trainer to decide what to do next.

"Use Wing Attack, subito formation!" it heard its Trainer command. Charging its wings up, Wingull soared around the battlefield, ready to strike at any moment upon its Trainer's order.

Confused as to what the Gym Leader meant, Kumiko and Marcato decided to wait it out until Wingull actually attacked, then react from there. However, doing so proved to be a time-wasting task, and after a while both were starting to get bored. Marcato started to look around the building's interior, and while he was being distracted by the Gym building's architecture, it was now time for Wingull to strike.

"Now, Wingull!" came its Trainer's shout. Abruptly dropping down behind Marcato, it slashed its wings through the Cactus Pokémon's back before flying up again, leaving his remaining health at critical levels.

Barely able to get up, Marcato looked worse for wear, and Kumiko knew that even if she managed to intercept Wingull's finishing move with a Wood Hammer, Marcato would faint afterwards from the recoil.

With no choice left, Kumiko could only rely on the weak power of Absorb to regain some health, and hopefully that would be enough to survive one last Wood Hammer.

"Swoop in and use Peck! That should finish it!" Kumiko heard the Gym Leader order her Wingull, who dived right in for the finishing blow.

"Marcato! Use Absorb to hit it!" Kumiko responded, praying to every Legendary Pokémon she could think of that this last-ditch plan would work out in her favor. As green tendrils shot out from Marcato, Wingull still managed to avoid them and make its way towards its target.

Accepting her fate, Kumiko was about to concede defeat when Marcato's Absorb tendrils suddenly got thicker and increased in number, with the new energy snares able to latch on and sap Wingull's energy bit by bit.

"Wingull, that should be Mega Drain! Get away from it!" the Gym Leader warned her Pokémon, surprised that the opposing Pokémon learnt a new move mid-battle. With great strength, Wingull managed to break free from Marcato's attack, but not before the Cactus Pokémon lunged after it.

"Let's go Marcato! You can do it!" Kumiko heard Hazuki and Midori shout from the sidelines, reminding her that they still existed. Fueled by her friends' cheers, Kumiko's determination was resolute, and she could now see the light at the end of the tunnel.

"Now! Wood Hammer!" she triumphantly ordered, and Marcato swung his glowing green hand down on the Gym Leader's Wingull, putting it out of action. Doing a backflip, he spun around in midair to face his Trainer when he landed.

"That was awesome, Marcato!" Kumiko praised her Pokémon, who twirled around in delight "Learning a new move mid-battle? That's what I'd expect from such a tough Pokémon like you! Great work!"

"What you and Marcato just did was so Kool-miko!" Hazuki congratulated her friend while running over with Midori, causing Kumiko to recoil from that extremely terrible pun. Despite that, they still managed to Tackle Kumiko in a Bewear hug, causing the taller girl to laugh in both joy at winning her first Gym battle and pain at her friend's lame joke.

"Excuse me," the Gym Leader cleared her throat, marking the end of the three girls' festivities. "May the challenger step up to receive her Gym Badge?"

"Oh! Yes… yes I will…" Her voice slowly fading from embarrassment, Kumiko went over to where the Gym Leader was standing, and she presented the victorious challenger with her first badge.

"This is the Ionian Badge," the Gym Leader explained "the badge that a challenger gets after conquering their first Gym in Octiva. Unlike other regions where badges are tied to gyms, challengers are free to take on the Gyms in any order they wish, but get the badges in the same order regardless."

"Speaking of which," she continued "The closest Gym from here is in Perto City, which is through Reed Forest. I would suggest you go there next, but if you do so you'll need to accompany someone there. The forest is easy to get lost in, but the person I'm requesting you go with knows her way around it, and needs to head there anyways."

The Gym Leader gestured to the referee, who came over to where Kumiko was standing. Now that she was closer, Kumiko could see that the referee was wearing a blue short-sleeved blouse and olive-green shorts. Her hair was tied in a ponytail held together with a red band, and on her left wrist was a comically oversized pink watch.

Being the polite girl that she was, Kumiko decided to introduce herself first to the newcomer "I'm Kumiko Oumae, nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too, Kumiko," the referee cheerfully responded "I'm Nozomi Kasaki. Pleased to make your acquaintance!"

* * *

If you want me to post additional details about the story (e.g. Pokémon or character data, random bits of trivia about the OC region) down here in the notes, please let me know! I've got a lot of backstory for this fic thought up, and not enough space in the story proper to show it. Also, if you didn't know already, I have a Twitter account that I sometimes use (username is the same as my account name). Please give it a follow!


	7. Chapter 7: The Magic Flute

"Nozomi here is one of my most trusted right-hand women at the Onic City Gym," the Gym Leader clarified. "She's been training under my wing for about six months now in both battling and playing the flute, so no matter who or what you run into in the forest, Nozomi will be well-equipped to deal with it."

"Aw, there's no need to praise me so much," Nozomi shrugged the compliments off. "I'm just a regular old flute player who just happened to be spotted by you one day, so I should be the one complimenting you."

"Miss Kasaki, thank you for volunteering to accompany me through the forest," After hearing what the Gym Leader had to say about the forest, Kumiko was relieved that she had an experienced guide to lead her through it "I really appreciate the help."

"There's no need to call me Miss Kasaki," Nozomi laughed "Just Nozomi is fine. Besides, I need to head to Perto City on the other side anyways, so helping you get through is just a small bonus."

"How about my friends Hazuki and Midori?" Kumiko pondered "Since they still haven't beaten this Gym yet, won't they be lost in the forest with no one to guide them after you and I leave?"

"Don't worry, Kumiko." Hazuki replied from across the Gym "Midori and I were planning to stay here for a while to capture more Pokémon and rechallenge the Gym anyways, so we won't inconvenience you. Even if we get lost in the forest, we'll ask for directions from other people passing by or check our maps."

"Oh, thanks a lot, you guys!" Kumiko was relieved that her friends could handle themselves, so they wouldn't inconvenience each other going their separate ways. "Good luck with catching new Pokémon and rechallenging the Gym!"

"We will! And once we've gotten stronger, you'll be sure that we'll both challenge you to a battle!" Midori shouted out, making Kumiko laugh with her grand declaration contrasting with her small size.

"You sure do have energetic friends," Nozomi commented "...if she could only get out more," she added quietly, causing Kumiko to wonder what triggered that quiet response "Anyways, let's get going. I have places to go and people to see!"

* * *

After getting her Pokémon healed up at the Center and bidding Hazuki and Midori farewell, Kumiko was back on the road again, this time with a new companion.

"So, that was your first Gym Battle, right?" Nozomi asked Kumiko as they walked towards the forest, eager to learn more about the girl beside her, "How was it?"

"It was fine." Kumiko replied "There were several challenging parts that made me need to think about what to do next, but I can't believe that I managed to beat it on my first try. It's actually kind of a minor miracle that this all happened."

"Well, sometimes we get lucky and do things that we think are impossible. From my experience, that usually happens when we short-sell or hold back ourselves" Nozomi tensed for a bit, then relaxed again. From her body language, Kumiko thought that she may have recalled an unpleasant memory, but shrugged that thought away.

After an awkwardly unpleasant silence, the two girls arrived in front of the forest, whose towering trees stoutly stood many times taller than them. Above them, Flying-type Pokémon leaped and flew from the treetops, while assorted Bug, Grass and Normal-types frolicked in the trees and on the ground.

"Well here we are," Nozomi announced "Reed Forest, home to over 25 unique species of Pokémon, and the largest forest in Octiva. Let's get going, shall we?"

Trudging through the woods, Kumiko realized just how adept Nozomi was at navigating them. Despite there clearly being a beaten path made by the feet of many travelers going back and forth, Nozomi occasionally strayed off it and went her own way instead, prompting Kumiko to follow her.

When the main road made itself visible again, Kumiko could tell that they had taken a much quicker detour to Perto City, judging by the signs that she saw hammered into the ground close by before and after taking the shortcut, which marked the distance and time that it would need for them to walk if they had stayed on the primary path.

"How are you so familiar with the forest, Nozomi?" Kumiko asked the older girl, curious as to how she had known that they could have cut across to save time.

"I lived in Perto City when I was growing up, so I often explored the forest when I was younger, learning my own way through it. The reeds growing among the trees in Reed Forest are also some of the best for making instrument reeds, so I used to come here with a friend to get some for making oboe reeds she uses." Nozomi explained.

"Is this friend of yours the person you're going to meet once we reach Perto? You're don't feel like the sort of person that would go visit their parents-" Kumiko immediately clamped her mouth shut with her hands after realizing what she had just said out loud, eliciting a laugh from Nozomi.

"Don't worry, I'm also planning to visit my parents once I'm back home. It wouldn't be nice of me not to do so," Nozomi seemed to take it all in stride, much to Kumiko's relief "And to answer your question, yes. I'm going to meet with a friend who also lives in Perto, then we'll set off for Ongaku Stadium from there. She's having me as her plus-one for a private event there."

"What? A private event at the Stadium? What sort of person is your friend?" Kumiko was shocked. Ongaku Stadium was the biggest performance and battle venue in all of Octiva, and also served as the regional League's main battlefield, capable of seating over 100,000 people for an event, but seats were easily filled and tickets did not come cheap. To rent out the entire stadium for a private function would cost an exorbitant amount of money, much more than Kumiko could comprehend.

"Her name's Mizore Yoroizuka. You may have heard of her family." Nozomi's answer surprised Kumiko yet again. The Yoroizuka conglomerate was one of the largest corporations in Octiva, owning subsidiaries in everything from radio stations to video game developers.

"How can someone as ordinary as Nozomi could be so close with them?" Kumiko pondered. Even though she could now wrap her head around the Yoroizuka conglomerate affording to rent out the Stadium, she still couldn't believe that Nozomi would be friends with one of their kin.

"Mizore and I have known each other for a while," Nozomi explained, causing Kumiko to realize that she had inadvertently spoke her thoughts out loud again "We first met in middle school, where I asked her if she would join the concert band there along with me. You should have seen her back then! She looked like a little lost Rockruff!"

Nozomi laughed "She said yes, and after we joined she was sort of forced to play the oboe, since the only oboists had graduated last year. Not only did she pick it up extremely quickly, she had an insane amount of raw talent to match her flawless technique. In all the competitions we participated in, there was always a comment by the adjudicators of her exemplary performance."

In the corner of her eye, Kumiko could notice Shuichi being chased by a swarm of Beedrill a short distance away. How and why he had gotten himself into that position was of absolutely no concern to Kumiko, and if he was the one that had gotten himself into this mess, then he should be the one to fix it.

Nozomi continued, "After we graduated, I decided to go on a Pokémon journey, while she remained in Perto City to further improve her oboe playing. I didn't really hear from her for almost a year until she sent an invite asking me to go with her to her family company's annual gala."

Digesting all the information that Nozomi had given her, Kumiko could see that 'Mizore' clearly meant a lot to Nozomi, though she felt that something was off about their relationship.

"If Mizore's really that important to you, why haven't you gone back and visited her during your journey?" Kumiko asked, surprising the older girl.

"Well, it's because I-" Nozomi's reply was interrupted by the sound of a nearby bush rustling. Both girls turned their heads towards the source of the noise, when a Cherubi suddenly jumped out towards them.

"Kumiko, I'll handle this! Elo, shine up the sky!" Nozomi called out, readying a Pokéball. Throwing it out, a Swablu burst from the ball and dived towards the Cherubi.

"Use Peck!" Swablu's beak flashed with energy, and it rammed straight towards the Cherubi. With the super-effective attack managing to handily strike it down, Nozomi threw a Pokéball at it. The dazed Cherubi was in no shape to dodge the incoming capture device, and was quickly encapsulated with a flash of light.

The Pokéball shook once, then twice, then three times, all while the white light on its button continued flashing. With a click, it froze up and the light stopped blinking, signalling the the Cherubi had been caught.

"Yes! I've always wanted a Cherubi!" Nozomi smiled while pumping her fist.

In one swift motion, Nozomi scooped up the Pokéball with her hand and brought it up to eye level, admiring her new capture. Her Swablu flew back to its Trainer's side, pleased to see that its Trainer was pleased with the fruit of its labours, and that it now had a new partner.

"All right! Come on out, Cherubi!" Nozomi cheerily called, throwing out the Pokéball in her hand. Her newly caught Cherubi sprang out and turned to face its new Trainer, eager to get to know the person who captured it.

"Hey little guy, I'm your new Trainer Nozomi, and the Swablu here is my other Pokémon Elo," she introduced. "Nice to meet you!" After she finished, her Cherubi happily bounced around, its second head being flung wildly in the air, clearly pleased to meet its new Trainer.

"Now let's see what moves you've got here…" Nozomi fished around in her bag for her Pokédex. After rummaging for a while, she pulled it out and pointed it at Cherubi, "OK, so according to the Pokédex, you're a girl, and you've got Leech Seed, Helping Hand, Magical Leaf, and Sunny Day… Wow! You're close to evolving!"

As her Cherubi jumped around happily at the thought of becoming more powerful, her second head just sighed as it waited for its inevitable demise during evolution, its sole purpose in life being just a bunch of nutrients for the main body. Being a Cherubi's second head was suffering.

However, Nozomi seemed immune to her Pokémon's existential crisis, and was wondering about something else, "Hmm… what should I nickname you? Cherry? No, too plain. Sunny? Fits your personality, but not your looks."

Nozomi's wanderings continued on, making Kumiko feel that she had been sidelined by the Cherry Pokémon. At the rate they were being sidetracked at, they would forever be trapped in the forest.

"Ah, I know! How about Sakura? Not only does it fit your appearance after you evolve, but it's also a classic song in Japanese culture!" Upon hearing her Trainer's suggestion, the Cherubi seemed more energetic, smiling as she hopped around while the second head bemoaned its futile existence yet again.

"Nozomi, what do you mean by Japanese?" Kumiko asked, unfamiliar with the term.

"Japanese refers to the collective culture of Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, and Sinnoh, since they're quite similar" Nozomi explained, "It's a term that's fallen out of favor a while back, so perhaps that's why you haven't heard of it."

Seeing her Cherubi react positively to that name, Nozomi made her decision, "OK, then Sakura it is!" she announced, in a voice resembling the one she put on during her refereeing duties.

As Nozomi let her Cherubi interact with her Swablu, who was trying to eat her second head as she dodged in a bizarre game of keep-away. Kumiko laughed at this strange yet heartwarming sight.

At that very moment, her stomach began to growl. She looked at her watch and realized that time had passed more quickly than she expected, and that it was now late in the afternoon. Signalling the time to Nozomi, she let Orpheus and Marcato out of their Pokéballs, and the unorthodox party broke for a late lunch in the middle of the forest.


	8. Chapter 8: Under Pressure

After their lunch, Kumiko and Nozomi were back at trekking through the forest again. Even though it was approaching dusk, Nozomi was confident that they could reach Perto City before sunset. Sending out her Swablu, she ordered him to scout ahead and find out how close they were to their destination.

When her Swablu flew off, Nozomi turned to Kumiko. "It shouldn't be long before he returns, since we should be close by. If not, then I've got some flashlights so we can continue making our way to the city."

"Aren't you afraid that we won't make it before the sun sets?" Kumiko asked, doubting Nozomi's claims, "You seem to be overly confident about it."

"Haha, don't worry so much, Kumiko," Nozomi replied. "This forest was basically my second home growing up, so I can roughly estimate where we are relative to the city." Taking a look at the sky, she saw the silhouette of a Flying-type Pokémon on the horizon. Upon closer inspection, Nozomi could see that it was her Swablu flying back to her.

Landing on her right shoulder, Swablu hopped closer to Nozomi's ear and chirped something. After he finished, he flew up and rested on Nozomi's head, nuzzling on his Trainer's hair while humming softly.

"Elo says that we're quite close, about 40 minutes away," Nozomi informed Kumiko, who nodded to confirm that she had heard her, "At the rate we're walking, we should be able to make it before night falls." Kumiko looked at the Swablu sitting comfortably on Nozomi's head, noting how soft its downy feathers looked.

"So fluffy. I want one…" she remarked to herself.

"Oh, you want a Swablu?" Nozomi asked, prompting Kumiko to realize that she had spoken up yet again, "Well, they aren't naturally found in Octiva, and I only got mine as a starter, so unless you know someone outside of the region that can help you catch one, you're out of luck."

"Tch." Kumiko thought. "And I was so close too!"

Oblivious to the other girl's envy, Nozomi carried on walking forward, with Kumiko following behind her, silently lamenting that she couldn't have her very own Swablu. The fluffiness would have to wait another day.

* * *

After nearly 40 minutes of walking, the rows and rows of trees that surrounded Nozomi and Kumiko were beginning to thin out, and the crimson light of the evening sky was soon shining down on them, illuminating their path forward. When the last of the trees were behind them, Kumiko could start to see some buildings in front of them.

"From here, it should be 10 more minutes until we reach Perto City," Nozomi told Kumiko. "I'm staying over at Mizore's home for the night, so you should get a room at the local Pokémon Center. You're challenging the Gym here, right?"

"Ah, yes! Can you tell me what type it specializes in?" Kumiko asked Nozomi, hoping to know more about the opponent she would be facing. If she really wanted to improve as a Trainer, then she would have to be more resourceful and plan ahead to gain every advantage she could.

"It's a Bug-type Gym," Nozomi replied. Upon hearing Nozomi's answer, Kumiko immediately and noticeably flinched, worrying the other girl, "Are you all right, Kumiko?"

"Ah, yes. It's nothing, really." Even though she tried to reassure Nozomi that she was all right, Kumiko was quivering with fear inside. She always tried to downplay it in front of people, but ever since a traumatic incident when she was younger, Kumiko had a severe phobia of Bug-type Pokémon.

Living in a small town, this wouldn't normally be a problem for her, who rarely ventured out into the wild. But having to face a Gym which revolved around the type?

Kumiko was deathly afraid.

As Nozomi continued walking towards civilization while Kumiko was internally cowering in fear behind her, she could see a large Ecruteak-style house looming in front of them, its slanted tile roof gleaming in the twilight.

"Oh! That should be Mizore's house!" Nozomi exclaimed, picking up speed. The despairing Kumiko also did so, not wanting to be left behind and get lost, especially so close to dusk.

Approaching the estate, Kumiko could only gawk at how enormous it was in comparison to the surrounding houses. With its grand garden, flawless exterior, and exquisite aesthetics, it resembled an ancient Johtonian castle more than somewhere a normal person would live in.

Nozomi approached the front door and banged on it with the attached Landorus-styled knocker twice. The resulting sound reverberated through the building's wooden frame, echoing into the night.

After a while, the door slid open, and a blue-haired teenage girl stepped out.

Her long, azure hair flowed down the back of her head like a waterfall, oddly bending in at the middle before expanding out, with two strands in front of her ears, framing her softly glowing amethyst-colored eyes. A sky-blue blouse and a white skirt adorned her ivory-pale skin and petite frame, with her small feet covered by soft felt slippers. Most strangely, she was sucking an oboe reed between her tiny lips.

To Kumiko, this girl reminded her of Reina in some ways. Both looked reclusive and mysterious on the outside, but whereas Reina's icy demeanour hid a fiery and passionate personality, the girl standing in front of her seemed to put up a frozen front to hide something that was more fragile underneath.

The girl took out the reed from her mouth, still glistening with her saliva. "Nozomi…" she softly spoke, her lips parting no more than necessary to speak out loud. Kumiko reasoned that she must be Mizore, and her guess was confirmed by Nozomi's next words.

"Mizore! I'm so glad to see you again! It's almost been a year!" Nozomi cheerfully greeted the other girl. "How have you been?"

"I've been well. Thank you very much for asking." Mizore replied. After she finished speaking, she placed her oboe reed back in her mouth, continuing to suck at it. Kumiko could hear the soft thumps of paws as an Absol appeared beside Mizore and looked up at Kumiko apprehensively.

"Oh, if it isn't Solenne!" Nozomi bent down to pet the Absol on its head, careful to avoid its scythe-shaped horn. Kumiko noticed that it was wearing a collar with a strange blue and white marble attached. While she had seen Pokémon wearing unusual accessories before, seeing something so plain on such an exotic Pokémon only added to the mystery surrounding it and its Trainer.

After petting her friend's Absol for a while, Nozomi stood up again. "Sorry, Kumiko. I got so distracted with Solenne that I forgot to introduce you to Mizore. Mizore, this is Kumiko. Kumiko, this is Mizore."

"Nice to meet you." Mizore's quiet voice barely reached Kumiko's ears, causing the other girl to scramble and think of a response to that oddly distant introduction.

"Ah, ni-nice to meet you too, Mizore." Kumiko's rushed response prompted the other girl to raise her eyebrows in surprise, slightly shocked at how Kumiko could conduct herself in such an uncouth manner.

"Well, this is my stop, Kumiko," Nozomi told her, returning her back to normal for a while. "You hurry along to the Pokémon Center now before it gets really dark. It's just down the road we came here from."

"Oh, then I'd better get going! See you!" With a wave of her hand, Kumiko was off, leaving Nozomi behind with Mizore.

"So, what did I miss since I left?" Nozomi asked Mizore as she closed the door behind her. "We've got a lot to catch up on…"

* * *

Just before the last sliver of sunlight vanished, Kumiko arrived at the Pokémon Center and had dinner there before checking in for the night. Settling in her room, Kumiko flopped down on her bed before decided to let Marcato out of his Pokéball. Being a cactus, or at least a Pokémon resembling one, he would now serve as a replacement for the one she kept at home.

"Ma-ra?" Marcato was confused as to why his Trainer would suddenly send him out, especially without Orpheus along him.

"Huh. You won't believe what happened today..." Kumiko began, but stopped as she realized that Marcato was not only present, but had actively participated in the Gym battle earlier today, and had seen Nozomi and her Pokémon earlier while he was let out of his Pokéball for lunch.

"That sounds oddly restrictive of me to keep him in so long," Kumiko thought, silently thinking to let Marcato out of his Pokéball more often. Her starter Pokémon looked at her inquisitively, almost as if he was thinking about what his Trainer might be thinking

"Oh yeah, you didn't see Mizore!" Kumiko remembered. "She's Nozomi's friend, and the reason why Nozomi was coming here in the first place. Though there was something off about the whole thing…"

"Rac-tus?" From what Kumiko could discern from Marcato's tone, it seemed that he was pushing deeper into Kumiko's thoughts about the matter, so she decided to entertain her Pokémon by telling him more. It was what she did with her cactus at home, and it wasn't even as responsive as Marcato.

"So when Nozomi was talking about Mizore to me in the forest, I asked her why she hadn't gone back here and visited Mizore ever since setting out on a journey. Even before her soon-to-be Cherubi attacked us, she was oddly defensive about the matter. She seemed surprised that someone asked her about it."

"And the way that Mizore was acting only seemed to confirm it. If they really did miss each other, then they would have been more intimate about the matter when they saw each other for the first time in a year. Nozomi talks about Mizore like how she's the light of her life, but I don't see that sort of relationship between them. It's more like they're trying to dance around each other, both wanting to get closer yet drifting farther away."

Kumiko breathed a sigh of relief, "Whew, that was a lot to say in one go. Sorry for weighing so much on you at once." Even though her words did no direct damage, Marcato felt like he just got hit with a super-effective move, and promptly returned himself back into his Pokéball.

* * *

After a well-deserved rest thanks to all the trekking she did through Reed Forest, Kumiko woke up the next day feeling refreshed and ready to take on the Gym. Finished with her breakfast, Kumiko headed to the Gym, ready to earn her second badge.

Thankfully, this Gym was much easier to find compared to the one in Onic City, since the buildings were shorter and smaller in size. Before going in, Kumiko patted the two Pokéballs she carried with her, hoping that her fears wouldn't prevent her from winning the upcoming battle.

Entering the building, Kumiko could see that its walls were lined with bamboo, though several sections of the walls seemed to be broken, with bamboo shards lying around charred holes scattered all over.

"Welcome! Sorry that the wall is broken. The last challenger to pass through here had a Pokémon with Flame Charge that didn't look before it leapt. Are you here for a Gym Battle?" Kumiko turned to look at where the voice was coming from, and saw a young woman holding a bassoon from across the Gym, a Vivillon perched on the top of her instrument.

Despite flinching at the sight of the Bug-type, Kumiko tried her best to be undeterred by her phobia and walked towards the Gym Leader. "Uh… yes… yes I am…" Shaking at the knees, she tried to steady her nerves, but she was still feeling uneasy at the thought of having to face more bugs.

"How much Gym Badges do you have?" the Gym Leader asked her, taking notice of Kumiko's nervous body language.

"I.. I have one badge… so far…" Taking deep breaths, Kumiko managed to calm herself down enough to collect her thoughts, but her phobia still remained.

"Then I'll adjust my team for this challenge. Come back, Vivillon!" The Gym Leader reached for a Pokéball and threw it at Vivillon, recalling it back to her side. Switching it for two Pokéballs from a tray at a kiosk, the Gym Leader gestured towards a door at the undamaged side of the Gym.

"Since the indoor arena is currently under repair, we'll use the one outside for our battle," the Gym Leader told Kumiko, who nodded and followed her outside. "I'm Raina, by the way."

Kumiko noticed that the outside arena was exactly the same size as the one inside, though with viewing stands protected by thick sheets of tempered glass at the sidelines, most likely to protect any spectators against any stray attacks. A referee stood by the sidelines, ready to officiate any battles.

"This will be a two-on-two Pokémon battle, and the first person whose Pokémon are knocked out loses. The challenger can switch anytime they want." the Gym Leader announced, prompting Kumiko to reach for a Pokéball in preparation.

"Both sides ready?" the referee asked, with Kumiko and the Gym Leader nodding their heads.

"Gym Battle, begin!" With the referee's words, both parties sent out their first Pokémon.

"Spinarak, climb up!" Spreading its six legs, the Gym Leader's String Spit Pokémon landed on the ground, its mandibles clicking in a rhythmic pattern.

"Orpheus, play on!" Though her legs were slowly turning to jelly, Kumiko still managed to send out the Feeling Pokémon and fired herself up. After being sent out, Orpheus' red horn glowed with a faint violet aura, though both sides took no notice of this as they began their battle.

"Use String Shot!" the Gym Leader commanded her Spinarak, who shot a burst of silk at its opponent, hoping to use it to impede mobility.

"Teleport away, then use Confusion!" Upon hearing his Trainer's command, Orpheus warped away just as the String Shot hit his location, then reappeared closer to Spinarak and fired a burst of Psychic energy.

Seizing the chance, the Gym Leader decided to punish her opponent for this blunder after her Spinarak recovered from the attack. "Use String Shot again!"

Orpheus' much closer distance only served to hinder any sort of response, and by the time that Kumiko could react, her Pokémon was already ensnared by several layers of Spinarak silk.

"Reel it in, then use Bug Bite!" the Gym Leader ordered her Spinarak, who slowly dragged Orpheus across the ground as it retracted the silk it shot out.

As Kumiko was watching Orpheus slowly meeting his doom, she had a brainwave. "Orpheus! Use Confusion to try and yank the silk strand to your side!"

Despite being bound, the Feeling Pokémon could still hear his Trainer's idea, and used a weak concentration of Confusion to stop himself and drag the silk strand over along with its shooter.

Not wanting to lose this bizarre game of tug-of-war, Spinarak pulled harder its silk, which Orpheus responded to by increasing the strength of his telekinesis. The strain that this was putting on the strand of silk was too much for it to bear, and soon it snapped in two, causing both Pokémon to go flying backwards.

Sensing an opportunity, Kumiko shouted her next order to Orpheus. "Teleport in close to Spinarak and use Sing, then barrage it with Confusion after that!"

Kumiko knew that since her plan was so lengthy, it would have a higher chance to go wrong at any point. Still, she pressed on, hoping to end the battle as quickly as possible to avoid spending more time than needed with bugs.

Orpheus Teleported right beside Spinarak as soon as it flipped itself back up from the impact of the attack and began to Sing, putting Spinarak back down as swiftly as it had gotten up. Once it was asleep, Orpheus fired off a salvo of Confusion attacks, and the sleeping spider was soon in a much deeper state of unconsciousness.

"Spinarak is unable to battle," the referee announced, with the Gym Leader recalling her fainted Pokémon and switching it's Pokéball for another one. Confirming that the challenger wasn't switching out her Pokémon, she sent out her next one. "Masquerain, show your face and mind!"

As the Gym Leader's Eyeball Pokémon flew out from its Pokéball, she noticed that the horn of the challenger's Ralts was rapidly turning an ominous shade of purple. Her Masquerain flew closer to the challenger, but that was the last straw.

Kumiko promptly fainted.

* * *

Poor Kumiko. Though on another note, there may be a period of time where chapters will be delayed or I will be on a hiatus, which will prevent me from uploading at my regular rate of once per week, and will most likely occur sometime during the next two months. I'll keep you posted on when that will happen, so make sure to tune in weekly for the latest updates!


	9. Chapter 9: You'll Never Walk Alone

"Open your eyes… Wake up, Kumiko."

Slowly mustering her energy and forcing her eyelids open, the first thing that Kumiko laid eyes on was Reina sitting by her bedside.

Too dazed to react at the thought of her desired sitting beside her bedside, Kumiko was confused at why Reina was here, and why she was in a bed in the first place. "Rei...na. Wh...why are you here?"

Pulling her chair closer to Kumiko's bedside, Reina addressed the person she was interested in. "I just finished defeating the Gym in Onic City when Eurydice suddenly popped out of her Pokéball and teleported me straight to the Gym here in Perto City, where you were lying unconscious on the floor."

She continued on. "Apparently, Orpheus and Eurydice are psychically linked, so they can feel what the other is feeling, and Ralts can emotionally bond with their Trainers. When Eurydice could feel your fear via Orpheus, she immediately knew that something was wrong, and warped me to where Orpheus was, which was right beside you."

"I talked with the Gym Leader and she told me that you were already shaking with fear when you entered the Gym, but only fainted when she sent out Masquerain, which meant that you most likely had a phobia of Bug-type Pokémon, especially towards Masquerain. Is that correct, Kumiko?"

Propping herself up, Kumiko could now see eye to eye with Reina, who was looking at her with a face full of worry. "Yeah... that's right. Never been good with Bug-type Pokémon in the first place, but I thought I could change that. Guess I was wrong…"

"After that, Orpheus immediately Teleported Eurydice, you, and I to the Pokémon Center, where we are right now. You were out for almost 3 hours since I last checked."

"So you were watching beside me while I slept? Heh… how cliché of you." Kumiko mustered up a small smile at Reina, who glanced away at Kumiko's comment, knowing how close it had hit home.

"I… was constantly keeping watch over you, since I didn't know when you would wake up. I didn't want you to be alone when you regained consciousness." Reina explained while having a small blush on her face, prompting a gentle laugh from Kumiko. On the surface, all she wanted was for Kumiko to feel safe around someone she knew, but she knew that deep down she had done it for another reason.

"Nothing, really." Stretching her limbs out in bed, Kumiko drew away the blanket that covered her legs and saw that she was barefoot. Looking down next to Reina's cute feet, Kumiko could see that not only were her shoes neatly put next to her bedside, but Marcato and Orpheus were also there, looking up at her.

"Hi guys," she waved at her Pokémon. "Don't worry, I'm OK now. I'm sorry I didn't tell you that I was that scared of Bug-types, so we didn't get to finish that Gym battle, though we were close to winning!" Kumiko paused "...but then that Masquerain just had to fly closer to me."

"Can you tell me why you're so scared of Masquerain?" Reina asked Kumiko, who tensed up for a moment before relaxing, knowing that she could trust Reina with anything.

"Well, it all started when I was younger…" Kumiko began.

* * *

"_Kumiko, come over here!" Shuichi yelled in her direction, causing Kumiko to laugh as she ran over to him._

"_I'm coming!" she replied. As she neared the boy, a Shuppet jumped out at her from the ground, sticking its tongue out as it tried its best to scare her, but she just ran through it, giggling at the ghost's antics._

_When she reached Shuichi, she could see their close friend Aoi walking by, her Shuppet gliding beside her. Despite Aoi's best attempts at training her Pokémon to use scaring as a battle tactic by using Kumiko and Shuichi as targets, the most attention they paid to it was just laughing its efforts off._

"_I can't believe that no matter how hard Shuppet tries, you two aren't scared at all." Aoi told them. "Guess we'll have to try harder to make you actually scream next time."_

"_It's because I'm not afraid of anything!" Kumiko proudly exclaimed. "No matter what comes at me, I won't be scared of it!"_

"_Yeah, well try going into Adagio Forest right now and see if you're scared out of your mind once you come out." Shuichi taunted her. "I heard that it's the deepest, darkest forest in Octiva, and it's just next to us. You on?"_

"_You bet I am! I'll show you that nothing can scare me!" Kumiko replied, a tinge of cockiness in her voice._

_Walking into the forest, Kumiko was determined to prove Shuichi wrong. After all, it was just a forest. What was there to be scared about?_

"_Don't come bawling your eyes out when you leave!" Shuichi continued to torment her, but she paid no heed to his words. Running deeper, Kumiko could feel the thrill of exploring somewhere so dark and mysterious._

_As she ventured closer to the forest's center, a nearby bush rustled, but Kumiko paid no attention to it, knowing that it was most likely just a weak wild Pokémon. Above her, the hoots of Noctowls rang through the canopy of trees, their deep cries echoing through her ears._

_Slowly, the density of leafy branches grew, and by the time Kumiko stopped running, she could only see the thinnest slivers of sunlight illuminating tiny patches of grassy floor. Her eyes struggling to adjust to the darkness, she scampered over to a nearby log and sat down on it._

_Catching her breath, Kumiko was too preoccupied at the moment to hear the miniscule vibrations of beating wings all around her. As the sound increased in volume, she could tell that something was amiss, but couldn't put a finger as to what it was._

_The sun dipped lower, causing the rays of light to change their angles. A stray beam burst through the canopy, illuminating two massive eyes for a split second before they vanished into the dark again._

_Her heartbeat rising, Kumiko was starting to feel afraid, but she couldn't admit that to herself, especially with her pride on the line. Getting up from where she was sitting, Kumiko decided to leave now before it got too dark._

_Not being able to see so well in the dim forest, Kumiko kicked over herself as she took a step back, falling down on the ground. The heady buzzing continued to get louder._

_When she landed, she took a moment to collect herself before getting up._

_And found herself directly facing a Masquerain's wings._

_A bloodcurdling scream rang through the forest, scaring away the lurking Murkrows and alerting Aoi and Shuichi that something had gone terribly, terribly, wrong._

* * *

"And then what happened?" Reina asked, curious to know more.

"Aoi ma-managed to fo-follow my tracks and d-drive the Masquerain away..." Recollecting the most horrifying event of her childhood had reduced Kumiko to a crying mess, and she was sobbing as Reina handed more tissues to her to wipe her tears away.

"Bu-but it was too late. I was crying non-stop for the rest of th-the day, and I ha-had to see a psychologist for mo-months after that. Shuichi got grounded for the rest of the month, and my parents forbid me from ever going into the forest again." Taking deep breaths, Kumiko's tears finally stemmed, and she had calmed herself down to resume talking normally.

"What sort of friend would dare someone like that? Doesn't sound very nice to me." Whoever this Shuichi person was, Reina was sure that when they met, she would kill him for treating Kumiko like that.

"Shuichi's gotten much nicer since then, and he doesn't do stuff like that now." Kumiko tried to defend her childhood friend, but she realized that trying to excuse him for the trauma he had caused her didn't make sense.

"Huh, then I do suppose that a Liepard can change its spots." Even though Reina's tone was less aggressive, there was still a hint of hostility in it that Kumiko could audibly detect, and this murderous intent sent chills down Kumiko's spine.

"With all this fear bottled up inside you, it was no surprise that you immediately fainted when you saw a Masquerain again," Reina deduced. "In a state like this, you can't expect to go back and… Hang on, I've got an idea to help you overcome your fear. Come with me..."

* * *

After getting permission from the attendant to leave the Pokémon Center, Reina led Kumiko back to where she exited from Reed Forest the previous day.

"While you were out cold, I had to check the map on my phone to see where I had been teleported to, and saw that there was a forest close by." Reina explained. "I figured that to overcome your fears, you have to experience something similar again, so here we are."

"Isn't that something that only works in shonen anime?" Kumiko asked, but all she gained from Reina was a completely serious answer.

"You know what they say: what doesn't kill you makes you stronger." Reina replied with a completely straight face, but the feelings inside of her were completely the opposite. Wasn't inviting Kumiko to go along with her somewhere… a date?

Attempting to stuff those thoughts down back into the deepest, darkest recesses of her mind only seemed to make them even more intense. A blush started to creep up on Reina's face, but she walked faster and hoped that Kumiko wouldn't see what a wreck of emotions she was.

Continuing on into the forest, Reina realized that she had lost track of time, and the daylight was beginning to fade away. Thankfully, she had a flashlight app on her phone, and switched it on to light the way. She had originally planned to use it later for… other encounters with Kumiko, but it would still serve its purpose now.

After wandering for a bit, Reina had found the pond she was looking for. She had noticed this body of water earlier while scrolling on the map, and where there was a source of water in a forest, there were bound to be Water and Bug-type Pokémon such as Masquerain.

Her suspicions were confirmed when she saw several of the Eyeball Pokémon fluttering around the pond, along with multiples of Surskit, Lotad, and Poliwag. Checking to see that Kumiko was still behind her, Reina fell back to check on her.

"We're almost there, Kumiko. Just remember that no matter how scared you may feel, you'll always have me by your side, forever and always." She reassured her. Almost as if it had a mind of its own, Reina's left hand linked itself with Kumiko's right, and before she realized what she had done, the temperature of both girls' faces rapidly shot up from their mutual physical contact.

In Kumiko's mind, her hand nonchalantly slipping into Reina's escalated this journey from just being friendly encouragement to something more intimate, almost as if she was being led into the frigid lair of a snow queen who was melting from the throes of passion.

"A-are you sure about that, Reina?" Kumiko asked her, the girl's declaration of companionship finally reaching her mind after the initial shock of hand-holding. "You really… won't leave me?"

"Never," came Reina's reply. "I'll never leave you. After this is over, I'll never leave your side. Where you go, I'll go. Even to the ends of the earth. No matter what challenges you face, I'll face them as well."

As they reached the pond, Reina's words finally made their impact on Kumiko. Even though Reina could have gone much faster on her own, she was deliberately matching Kumiko's speed to accompany her.

Hearing her desired say that she would always walk with her made Kumiko's heart almost leap out from her chest, but she knew that she would have to walk faster in return to not let herself be a burden to Reina.

The Masquerain that dotted the pond flew closer as they saw Kumiko and Reina enter the vicinity. Upon seeing the Pokémon that caused her so much trauma, Kumiko almost screamed out, but Reina squeezed her hand tighter to reassure Kumiko that she was by her side.

"Don't worry. Just relax." Reina tried to calm Kumiko down, and hearing her oh-so-sweet and sexy voice (the blush on Kumiko's face intensified upon realizing what she just thought about) helped ground Kumiko back to reality.

As the Masquerain continued to dance around in the air close by, Kumiko was so distracted by Reina's presence that not even one of them flying less than a meter in front of her seemed to elicit any reaction.

"See? You're not scared of them anymore." Reina's voice reminded Kumiko that her heady feelings were coming from a person. "Sometimes, the only way to face your fears is to meet them head-on, and I think we succeeded in that regard."

"No, it was all because of you that I wasn't scared." Kumiko thought to herself, but upon seeing Reina's face become as red as a Tamato Berry, she realized that she had spoken her thoughts out again, causing her face to become a deeper shade of red.

The belligerent tension between the two was coming to a head, when Reina found a way to break the deadlock. "Let's play a duet here. It should help calm us down from all this… ah, intensity."

As Kumiko wondered how she could play music without an instrument, seeing Reina materialize a trumpet from her Pokédex reminded her of that function. Getting out her own Pokédex, Kumiko fumbled around with it for a while before managing to find the euphonium function on it, and pressed the button to activate it.

Light spilled out of the Pokédex and formed itself into the shape of a euphonium, its familiar shape fitting snugly into Kumiko's hands. She played a couple of warm-up tones to get used to the feel of hard light pressing on her lips, then turned to Reina, who was doing the same on her trumpet.

"What should we play?" Kumiko asked her. "Our middle school graduation piece?"

"I'm saving that for a later date." Reina responded, making Kumiko wonder just what Reina had planned up her sleeve. "I think that You'll Never Walk Alone by Richard Rodgers would be more fitting given the circumstances. Besides, didn't we play this for the cultural festival in middle school? You should remember it, right?"

Kumiko nodded to Reina as she put her instrument's mouthpiece to her lips, then upon seeing her trumpet tic up for a split second, the two girls began their duet, as if sealing their promise to always be with each other into their souls.

Reina's siren song mixed with Kumiko's unwavering bass notes to create the right blend of brass, the melody alternating between them with each phrase as they reached the climax, with the melancholic tune of the piece becoming resolute and triumphant when Reina landed those pivotal notes at the pinnacle, drawing the attention of nearby Pokémon. As they wound down with the coda, Reina glanced at Kumiko, who looked back at her, satisfied with their performance.

Just when Kumiko and Reina deactivated their Pokédexes, a ripple of water across the pond broke the perfect reflection of moonlight, and caught both of their eyes with its glimmer. Looking up to see what had caused the disruption, an unfamiliar Pokémon hovered above the pond.

The newcomer looked feminine, with its long and wavy, green hair resembling bar lines dotted with pale blue notes, pinned up by a black headpiece shaped like a treble clef. Its shining blue eyes along with a strange azure jewel on its pure white forehead resembled semibreves, and the arms that extended out from its dark body were in the shape of crotchets, with ivory-pale legs rounding out its appearance.

Stunned by its odd beauty, Kumiko and Reina were unsure of where it came from, or why it seemed to be so fixated on the two of them.

"_Greetings, young musicians,_" a strange voice rang in their heads. "_I am Meloetta, the Melody Pokémon._"

"Wait, what? You can talk?" a surprised Kumiko asked Meloetta. "Only several species of Pokémon can even form human words, and you don't seem to be one of them."

"_I am not talking, Kumiko Oumae,_" Meloetta informed her, causing Kumiko to be even more shocked at the fact that this Pokémon somehow knew her name, "_I am merely using telepathy to project my thoughts into your minds._"

"How did you know Kumiko's name? She hasn't met you before. Have you, Kumiko?" Reina inquired, to which Kumiko shook her head, clearly having never seen this Pokémon before.

"_You two are of great interest to me ever since your mutual encounter in Dacap Town, which I witnessed firsthand. Your bond with each other in both musicianship and… other areas, has proven to be extremely strong, and I do hope that you two continue to develop it further. It has proven… very intriguing to observe._" Meloetta explained, which answered most questions that the girls had, with the exception of one.

"What do you mean by the bond between us? Can you tell me-" Before Kumiko could finish her sentence, Meloetta had already disappeared from sight.

* * *

A short distance away, a young woman hidden in the bushes had just finished photographing Kumiko and Reina's entire encounter with Meloetta.

"_This will prove to be useful information indeed,_" she mused to herself, "_Ritsu and the others will be pleased to know that two marks have been identified. With this knowledge, Houkago Tea Time will be one step closer to dominating the musical world!_"

Unfortunately, stuck in her thoughts, she stepped backwards on a stray tree branch and fell onto the ground, nearly dropping her prized Lomography. To add insult to injury, said tree branch was actually a wild Phantump, and when they locked eyes with each other, both parties screamed at the top of their lungs before she managed to teleport away.

"_What the heck just happened there?_" Kumiko and Reina thought in unison.


	10. Chapter 10: Dal Segno Al Coda

After their evening forest duet-bonding/fear-facing session, Kumiko and Reina headed back into Perto City, both tired from the day's events. As the moon's light shone down on them, Reina turned to Kumiko. "We're sleeping together tonight."

Kumiko didn't know how to properly respond to that. "Wait, what?"

"I don't want you to have nightmares. Even though you've gotten over your fear of Masquerain, I'm still worried that triggering your phobia so much today overtaxed your brain. You'll feel safer with someone you know around." Reina knew that these were all legitimate reasons to stay with Kumiko, but deep down she knew that she was lying to herself. All she wanted was more time with the person that was special to her.

"So you're staying in the same room as I am?" Kumiko asked, curious as to what Reina meant. "Wouldn't that be a repeat of the last time we were together?" she wondered, flashing back to that awkward scenario in Dacap Town.

"Well yes, though this time it's because I want to, not because there's not enough rooms to go around." Reina's reply made Kumiko aware that she had spoken out yet again, but this time it didn't seem to faze her that much.

It just made her blush uncomfortably.

"But… my room only has one bed. Are you OK with that?" Even though she wanted to experience the intimate distance she shared with Reina last time again, Kumiko didn't want Reina to feel uncomfortable being around her.

"The closer I am with you, the safer you'll be." Reina struggled to keep her poker face intact, but even she couldn't believe what she just said. Not only was she trying to repeat what had happened last time, but actively pursuing the same outcome.

"So, you're sharing the bed with me? Just like last time?" Back then, Kumiko felt that being in the same bed with Reina was a once-in-a-lifetime dream come true, but to see history repeat itself so soon was nothing short of a miracle.

"It's the only option with one bed in your room, unless you somehow manage to create another one out of thin air." Reina knew that being reunited with Kumiko so soon was only due to an unexpected turn of events, but she knew that if she wanted to get closer to Kumiko, she had to seize every chance she got.

As they neared the Pokémon Center, both Kumiko and Reina were starting to get anxious. It seemed that lightning had struck twice in the same place, driving them closer at an alarmingly fast rate. The barrier of distance was already broken by them once, and once it was repeated, there was no turning back.

Approaching Kumiko's room, she took the lead and swiped her Pokédex below the door handle, opening it with a 'click' that punctuated through the entire hallway. Stepping in first, Kumiko held the door open for Reina, who was hesitating in crossing the boundary that separated them.

Seeing Reina still standing behind the doorway, Kumiko decided to lighten up the atmosphere with a shot of humor. "You may now enter, my queen." she declared while bowing at Reina

Flustered at Kumiko's comment, Reina's face deepened at the gesture. Even though she wouldn't expect Kumiko to know that, Reina had once read up that her name also meant 'queen' in the language used on the Iberian Peninsula. Hearing Kumiko call her that not only served as an accidental pun, but it made Reina think. If she was Kumiko's queen, then were they…

Shaking her head at that thought, Reina tried but failed to get it out of her mind, and entered Kumiko's room in a frantic panic. Dropping her bag on the floor, she immediately rushed for the bathroom, locked the door behind her, and took several deep breaths to calm herself down.

Once she felt ready to face the music, she unlocked the door, only to see Kumiko burst in. "Sorry for interrupting you Reina, but I really need to go to the bathroom!"

Hearing the door lock behind her, Reina breathed a sigh of relief, then giggled a bit. That anti-climatic encounter had brought her heart rate back to normal, and seeing Kumiko acting like an adorkable fool always managed to make her laugh, even if she wouldn't admit it to anyone.

Once Kumiko had finished using the bathroom, Reina decided to take a shower, since it was already getting late. Unpacking her bag and taking her clothes and toiletries out, she stepped in and closed the door, finally able to have a moment of peace and calm all to herself.

Outside, Kumiko heard the sound of running water hitting the tiled floor of the shower stall, its constant hissing only punctuated with brief interludes of silence. During those moments of quiet, she could hear the squelching sound of Reina's slim hands applying soap on her smooth skin.

Kumiko could only imagine how Reina's bare body could look in her mind, but when the showerhead stopped for the final time, she could hear Reina's voice echo off the sonorous walls of the bathroom. "Kumiko, can you hand me my shorts? I think I left them outside."

Looking at the mess of clothes strewn around her room (she really needed to get into the habit of tidying up after herself), Kumiko was lost as to where Reina's shorts were amidst the chaos. "I can't seem to find them."

"OK, then I'll just get them myself." Reina replied as the door unlocked and she stepped out wearing nothing but a towel wrapped around her body.

Kumiko could do nothing but gawk and stare at Reina as all of her perfect proportions were on full display for her to see. From her head to feet, Kumiko felt hopelessly outmatched in all areas compared to Reina, especially in the sizes of their chests.

As she moved around the room, Kumiko was getting some extremely gratuitous views of Reina's most pronounced… assets. Despite trying to pry herself away from looking, the temptation of lust was just too much for her to resist.

"Ah, found it." After rummaging in her bag, Reina picked up her shorts, then went back into the bathroom. By the time the door was closed again, Kumiko could feel all the blood in her body rushing up to her face and the membranes in her nose rapidly drying up.

When Reina emerged again, Kumiko was too distracted to function properly, so she quickly picked up her own change of clothes and toiletries, and withdrew back into the relative privacy of the bathroom.

Finishing her nightly routine, Kumiko went back out into the main room to see Reina already resting in bed. Lifting up the covers and joining her there, Kumiko was hesitant to turn off the lights herself, afraid that her inner fears might manifest themselves in the dark.

"Don't worry. I've got this." Reina declared, reaching over to Kumiko's side, where the switch was. However, her short arms prevented her from making the final stretch separating her from her goal.

Seeing Reina's plight, Kumiko jabbed the light switch herself, not wanting to see her continue to struggle anymore. For her queen, Kumiko would die a thousand deaths rather than see her get hurt.

Wait… that was a joke, right? If so, why did she think of Reina that way?

Pondering that question as she drifted asleep, Kumiko could feel Reina's body heat slowly warm up the blanket, acting as a warm barrier against the cool air. In sleep, Kumiko thought that she could find peace, but what awaited her there was not welcoming.

* * *

_dark alone walking slowing standing breathing silence nervous paranoid fearful shivering afraid mortified ominous dizzy sick revolting deathly_

_presence waiting lurking sneaking looming nearing approaching closer closer closer __**closer**_

_**run run run run run run run run get away don't look back**_

_**zooming in closer closer closer close r…**_

_**cowering crying appealing begging pleading**_

_**No use anymore now.**_

_**ONLY SUFFERING AWAITS.**_

And then, unspeakable horrors manifested themselves in the land of slumber, terrorizing the lone girl in them.

* * *

Kumiko woke up in a cold sweat and began crying.

Hearing her uncontrollable sobbing, Reina immediately woke up and turned on the lights, rushing to get a box of tissues from the bedside table. "Kumiko, did you have a nightmare?" she asked, pulling out several tissues for Kumiko to wipe her eyes with.

"Y-yeah," she replied, dabbling away at the stray tears that kept trickling down. "I-it was.. I c-can't describe it. I-it's just too horrible."

"It's OK," Reina replied while stroking Kumiko's back, calming the taller girl down. "You're safe now. That was just a bad dream, nothing more." As her hand ran down Kumiko's back, Reina noticed how firm it was, with only trace amounts of flab on it.

It just felt so good to touch.

"Th-thanks, Reina. I feel much better now." Her tears slowing down, Kumiko could now see Reina's face properly. Even though Reina had quite the case of bedhead, it didn't do much to dampen her natural beauty.

Seeing just how vulnerable Kumiko looked while huddling in bed, Reina couldn't resist the urge to shelter and protect her from whatever danger she might face. Without hesitation, she embraced Kumiko in a hug, neither of them comprehending what that action entailed.

Shocked by Reina's sudden action, Kumiko was overwhelmed with emotion. Temporarily forgetting about her trauma-induced nightmares, her brain swirled from confusion to curiosity to acceptance of her current situation, clearly not willing to break free of Reina's hold on her. Returning the favor, she wrapped her arms around Reina's waist, absorbing more of her warmth.

By the time they broke off the hug, it had seemed like too little time had passed. The heat that they had built up between them was already starting to cool off, and when Kumiko looked at the clock in the middle of the room, she realized that it was already 4 am.

"Ahhhh! It's this late already? We better get back to sleep!" she remarked, prompting Reina to tidy up the chaos she created while comforting Kumiko. After that was done, she was preparing to turn of the lights when Kumiko asked her something.

"Reina… can I wrap my arms around your waist when we sleep? I don't want to have nightmares anymore…" She trailed off, slightly embarrassed that she considered the target of her affections as just a body pillow.

"That's fine with me. If you don't mind, I'll also wrap my arms around you too to keep you safe in your dreams." Instinctively slinking her arms around Kumiko again, the other girl did the same, and with a flick of the lights, both of them were safe in each other's clutches. Without any further incident, the night passed peacefully.

* * *

When the first crack of dawn broke into the room, Reina woke up first, happy to see that Kumiko didn't have any nightmares after she fell asleep. Smiling at that thought, she was surprised to see that Kumiko was already awake and looking at her, their arms still wrapped around each other.

"Good morning, Kumiko. Sleep well?" she asked, even though she already knew the answer.

"Mm. Thanks to you, nothing happened after I fell asleep." Kumiko replied, grateful for the other girl's presence. "I'm good now."

"Speaking of which, what are you going to do about your Gym challenge? You can't avoid it forever, you know?" Concerned that a rematch with the Gym could possibly trigger Kumiko's fear again, Reina didn't want a repeat of last time. Kumiko had suffered enough already.

"I was just thinking about that before going to sleep. I'm not quite sure that I can handle it by myself, but I know that with you by my side, I feel invincible." Her voice filled with determination, Kumiko spoke out her declaration, feeling more confident inside. "I'm rechallenging the Gym today."

"That's the spirit." Reina encouraged her, also feeling a sense of pride in her chest. To hear Kumiko liken her to a protective charm made Reina feel that she was the most important person in Kumiko's life. She knew that having thoughts like that was breaking the balance of their friendship, but she didn't care. She liked having them.

After finishing their morning routines and eating breakfast, Kumiko set off for the Gym with Reina in tow, ready to challenge it once more and truly overcome her fears. They might have controlled her once, but Kumiko was dead set on showing them who was the boss of her mind.

Reaching the Gym, Kumiko saw a sign on the door. "PLEASE GO TO THE OUTSIDE ARENA FOR CHALLENGES. SORRY FOR THE INCONVENIENCE." Clearly, the damage from the past battle still hadn't been repaired yet.

Heading over to the outdoor battlefield, Kumiko could see the Gym Leader relaxing in a folding chair with a teacup and saucer in her hand and a Combee sitting on top of her bassoon.

"Ah, it's good to see you again," the Gym Leader noted as she saw Kumiko approach her. "I hope that you've sufficiently rested after yesterday's incident. Are you here for a rematch?"

"I am," Kumiko proclaimed, "and now that I've faced myself, I know that I can do it this time, especially with a lucky charm by my side."

"That's excellent." the Gym Leader replied, standing up from her chair and recalling Combee. "Without further ado, shall we begin?"

* * *

The battlefield was set for the rematch. As both sides were getting ready to send out their first Pokémon, Reina watched from the sidelines, hoping that yesterday's ad-hoc therapy session would prevent Kumiko from keeling over again.

Even though it was Kumiko's battle, Reina was the one feeling more nervous. She didn't want Kumiko constantly hitting the same roadblock due to her past fear. If Kumiko couldn't overcome this issue, then how could she tackle much tougher challenges?

Putting her fears aside, Reina recoused her sights back onto the battlefield, where Kumiko and the Gym Leader had already sent out their first Pokémon. Even before both sides had made their move, the tension in the air was charged, neither person wanting to break the deadlock for fear of retribution.

"Orpheus, use Confusion!" Kumiko ordered, and the Ralts fired a burst of psychic energy at its opponent, hoping to gain a first strike advantage. However, the Gym Leader commanded her Pokémon to dodge, and her Spinarak managed to escape unscathed.

"Teleport close to it and use Sing!" Hearing his Trainer, Orpheus warped in and prepared his sleep-inducing move, but before he could even vocalize his first note, the Gym Leader already had a counter planned.

"Fire String Shot directly at its mouth, then go in close and use a Bug Bite!" Almost immediately, Orpheus' mouth was webbed shut by the String Spit Pokémon, who was closing in with its mandibles gleaming.

Seeing how easily her victorious strategy from last time was so easily dismantled by the Gym Leader, Kumiko could only wrack her brain for alternate strategies, until she realized that the most simple tactic was also the most effective in this case. "Use Confusion directly at Spinarak!"

Another psychic burst shot out, and the approaching Spinarak couldn't change course in time to avoid it. The resulting collision caused Spinarak to be flipped belly-up after landing, unable to get back on its legs.

"Now Teleport in and use Confusion again!" Kumiko ordered as Orpheus instantly closed the distance with his opponent. Not wanting to see a repeat of last time's battle, the Gym Leader realized that she had to mix up her tactics to test the challenger.

"Use Constrict!" Spinarak's flailing limbs extended outwards and managed to get a grip on its opponent, binding the two together tightly.

As Orpheus couldn't keep his balance from the added weight of Spinarak, something clicked in Kumiko's mind. "Orpheus, use Confusion over and over again! At this range, there's no way that Spinarak can avoid it!"

Seeing the tactical blunder she had made, the Gym Leader had no choice but to accept the defeat of her first Pokémon as it was repeatedly bombarded by psychic pulses, rendering it unconscious.

"Spinarak is unable to battle." the referee announced. Recalling it back to her, the Gym Leader readied her second Pokémon, hoping that her challenger wouldn't have the same adverse reaction to it again.

"Masquerain, take off your mask!" With her shout, the Eyeball Pokémon sprang out from its Pokéball, flitting its wings rapidly as it adjusted itself to the air currents. Seeing the Pokémon of her fears again, Kumiko was about to go weak in the knees with shock until she heard Reina's voice ringing from the spectator stands.

"Kumiko! Don't forget, I'm still here with you! If you ever feel uneasy, just remember that I'll always be at your side, watching over you!" she yelled. Hearing Reina's words causing the flames of passion inside Kumiko to burn, and a gleam of determination flashed itself across her eyes.

"Got it!" she called over to the viewing gallery, "I won't let you down, Reina! Just watch me!" With that, Kumiko returned to the battle again, eager to prove to herself that she was no longer ruled by her fears.

"Use Confusion!" Kumiko commanded Orpheus, who began charging up the Psychic-type attack.

As the Confusion was about to fire, the Gym Leader could see that her challenger was being too reliant on the same attack. "Don't let it get ready! Use Gust to knock it off its feet!"

Before Orpheus could unleash the move, Masquerain flapped its wings, creating a torrent of air that washed over the battlefield. As it got stronger, Orpheus started to lose his balance, and ended up falling down while launching his attack straight up into the air.

While Orpheus struggled to get up, Masquerain continued to use its wingbeats to prevent the Ralts from recovering. As Orpheus continued to be pinned down, the Gym Leader decided to take advantage of her opponent's helpless state. "Masquerain, use Bubble!"

The Eyeball Pokémon's wingbeats slowed back down to normal as it blew a steady stream of bubbles out of its small mouth, which slammed directly into Orpheus, leaving him still unable to get up.

"Now, go in for the knockout! Use Quick Attack, rondo formation!" Immediately, Masquerain began to speed up and circle around Orpheus, leaving Kumiko uncertain from which direction the attack would be coming from.

Thinking about what to do, she recalled watching a Pokémon battle where a Solosis' Confusion expanded outward in a sphere across all directions rather than focusing it at a single target.

Hoping that Orpheus could understand what she meant, Kumiko tried to instruct him as best as she could. "Use Confusion, but don't focus it in a single burst. Try and let it expand from you in all directions!"

To Orpheus, firing the attack out everywhere was intuitively easier than shaping it into one strike, which required more mental control. As he saw the afterimages of Masquerain all around him, Orpheus let loose with an extremely strong Confusion pulse, which blew Masquerain a distance back.

However, this did not deter the Gym Leader's Pokémon from resuming its attack. Right after Orpheus' Psychic attack stopped, Masquerain zoomed back in with Quick Attack, knocking out the Feeling Pokémon in one hit.

"The challenger's Ralts is unable to battle." the referee announced as Kumiko withdrew Orpheus back into his Pokéball.

"You did great, Orpheus," she whispered at the Pokéball in her hand, then swapped it for her other one and threw it out. "Marcato, let's put this battle to a coda!"

With a twirl, Marcato sprang out of his Pokéball and landed on the ground after doing several somersaults in midair as a show of acrobatics, despite not knowing the move. Masquerain was not amused.

As both Pokémon stared each other down, Kumiko knew that any strategies involving Marcato had to be defensive in nature, since she had to lure her opponents close to damage them with his strongest moves, so she couldn't act without compromising her position.

Growing impatient with the challenger's inaction, the Gym Leader decided to make the first move. "Masquerain, use Gust!"

The Eyeball Pokémon flapped its wings rapidly again, creating air currents that washed across the battlefield. However, unlike Orpheus, Marcato was more mobile, able to dodge the attack more effectively, though not without sustaining some damage.

As Gust was super-effective against Marcato, Kumiko knew that Marcato had been badly hurt despite the move's weak power, but she had the perfect way to counter against that. "Marcato! Spread your Mega Drain tendrils across the battlefield, then once you get a hold of Masquerain, focus all of them on its position!"

Marcato dutifully obeyed his Trainer's orders, shooting out a large quantity of green tendrils from his body that swamped the battlefield. Despite Masquerain's best attempts to dodge them, there were simply too many to avoid, and eventually it was stuck in Marcato's snare. By the time it managed to break free, Marcato had already recovered enough health to keep fighting.

"Don't stop, Marcato! Use Peck!" Before Masquerain could fully comprehend what was going on, Marcato was already hopping towards it in a series of flips and bounces, with the spike on his forehead glowing with energy. One headbutt later, Masquerain was sent flying towards the floor.

"Use Gust to get yourself back up!" the Gym Leader told her Pokémon, whose wings began beating in a steady rhythm as it slowly gained altitude. However, before it could fully regain its normal flying height, Marcato was already bouncing towards it even though he was bearing the full brunt of the Flying-type attack.

"Now, use Wood Hammer to finish-" Before Kumiko finished her command, she then realized that Marcato most likely didn't have enough health to tank the recoil from his strongest move, and opted for the safer option. "Screw that! Use Peck instead!

The energy building up in Marcato's right arm was immediately replaced with his forehead spike glowing instead, and for the second time in this battle, Masquerain was rammed down by the Flying-type move, but this time the attack was the decisive blow. When the dust cleared, it was apparent to all parties that Masquerain had fainted.

"Masquerain is unable to battle." the referee announced. As soon as the Gym Leader recalled her unconscious Pokémon, Reina was already approaching down from the stands to congratulate Kumiko.

"You did great there, Kumiko." Reina praised, causing a small blush to appear on Kumiko's face. "It seemed that what we did last night was successful in curing your fear of Masquerain, and because of this you were able to emerge victorious today."

"Aw, thank you, Reina. You were the one who came up with the idea to go into the forest in the first place, so you deserve part of the credit for the victory." Hearing Kumiko's compliment, Reina also felt her cheeks going hot. She raised her hand for a high-five, and when Kumiko's hand hit her's, she grabbed it tightly and pulled Kumiko into a hug.

"I can't believe you pulled this off." Reina spoke softly into Kumiko's ear, sending chills down her spine. "Just yesterday you were fainting at the sight of Bug-types, and now look at you! Sweeping the Gym with ease!"

"It's all thanks to you, Reina. Thank you so much." Relishing the lack of distance between Reina and herself, Kumiko almost forgot about one important thing. "Oh yeah! I need to receive my badge from the Gym Leader!"

Breaking off the hug, Kumiko went over to the Gym Leader, who was waiting with a badge in hand, and presented it to Kumiko

"This is the Dorian Badge," she explained. "With it, all Pokémon up to Level-" The Gym Leader's spiel was suddenly cut off by a slow clapping sound coming across from the challenger's end of the battlefield.

"Bravo! Bravissimo!" A bright, brassy voice rang out from the source of the clapping. "That was a magnifiqué battle! Winning despite a severe type disadvantage? Simply an ichiban performance!"

Turning her head to see the mysterious speaker, Reina was floored at the identity of the person joining them. Though her appearance was simple, with red-rimmed glasses framing cool-blue eyes, long and wavy black hair rolling down her shoulders, and a short-sleeved black dress with green highlights ringing the edges covering her perfectly-proportioned body, the woman standing in front of them exuded pure charisma and power with her presence, backed up by her stunning natural beauty.

"Who- who's that?" Kumiko asked the Gym Leader, who was staring with an expression of shock.

"You don't know?" the Gym Leader replied, snapping out of her delerium for a moment thanks to Kumiko's partial obliviousness. Clearly, her challenger did not get out much.

"That's the Grass-type specialist of the Elite Four: Asuka Tanaka."

* * *

Kumiko's nightmare sequence was something extremely different from my normal writing style, so I'd like to hear your thoughts on how I handled that, since I plan to return it in future chapters. Also... Asuka!


	11. Chapter 11: Asuka Strikes!

"Asuka Tanaka, at your service!" The newly-revealed Elite Four member laughed out loud. "I'm actually surprised to meet someone who doesn't know who I am, but I'd have to say, you've already made a good first impression on me, mi amigo."

"Speaking of which," she continued, "I still haven't learnt your name yet. Care to entertain me with it, tomodachi?"

"Uh, y-yes." Kumiko wasn't sure how to respond to the Elite Four member's extremely upbeat attitude, but at least she could give a basic introduction. "I'm Kumiko Oumae, nice to meet you."

"Ah, what an interesting name. Were you named after the Japanese construction technique of assembling wood without the use of nails?" Tanaka asked, "Rather coincidentally, that technique was developed during the period of time that bears my name, so one could say that we were Destiny-Bonded to meet at some point, capiche?"

"Ehh, I'm not really sure about that." Kumiko replied, but her words fell on deaf ears as the Elite Four member rambled on.

"It also seems that you and I have another thing in common." Tanaka noted. "From the way that you and your Maractus communicated during battle, it seemed that not only was it apparent that it was your starter, but you seem to have a particular affinity for Grass-types. Do you tend to any plants at home?"

"Um, I have a cactus." Kumiko answered, surprised at how strong the Elite Four member's intuition was so strong, despite looking only a few years older than her. Was that part of the aptitude needed to become a top-class Trainer?

"Then it only seemed fitting that you had a Maractus for a starter." Tanaka remarked, "Since we're in the same boat as Grass-type lovers, I now permit you to call me Asuka-senpai, Oumae-chan."

"_What's with the sudden friendliness and use of honorifics?_" Kumiko thought to herself. " _Do all Ace Trainers have a few screws loose? _"

"I appreciate the sentiment, Miss Tanaka, but I doubt that you would pay a visit to my Gym just to observe this young challenger." the Gym Leader's voice of reason interrupted Kumiko's thoughts. "What is your official purpose here?"

"Ah, about that." Asuka's face shifted to a more serious demeanour. "I, Asuka Tanaka, on behalf of the Pokémon League, hereby challenge you, Raina Kitamura, to a six-on-one Pokémon battle to evaluate your Pokémon battling skills, as part of the responsibilities to maintain your competence as a licensed Gym Leader. You have five minutes to prepare the six Pokémon you will be using for this match, starting now."

* * *

As the clock ticked down, Kumiko went back up to the spectator stands with Reina, where a small crowd was trickling in. Clearly, news travelled fast of an Elite Four member's arrival in town, and so people would gather to see what all the fuss was about.

"I'm actually surprised that you didn't know who Asuka Tanaka was." Reina commented, leaving Kumiko slightly embarrassed at her obliviousness. "Not only is she one of the best Trainers in all of Octiva, she's also well-known as a prodigy euphonist in the musical world. I'd have thought that you would've heard of her at some point."

Kumiko didn't know how to respond to that, since any comeback she could make would seem weak and flimsy. If Reina took that the wrong way, then she would most likely consider Kumiko as someone too inferior for her, which she didn't want to risk.

Before Reina could ask why Kumiko wasn't answering her, the doors separating the Gym from the outside arena swung open, and the Bug-type Gym leader emerged, six Pokéballs attached to the side of her bassoon.

"_How is that bassoon even balanced?_" Kumiko thought, but kept that comment to herself. Reina wouldn't appreciate her randomly spouting whatever came to mind, being the prim and proper person she was.

On the field, both sides were getting ready for the battle, with the referee checking that the two battlers were adhering to the terms that Asuka had laid out for them. The crowd was teeming with anticipation at the match between two strong Trainers, eager to see them pit their finely-honed skills against each other.

Once the referee was finished with the final preparations, she went back to her podium and raised her arms. "Both participants are ready for battle. The six-on-one match between Gym Leader Raina Kitamura of Perto City and Elite Four member Asuka Tanaka will begin... now!" she announced.

As the crowd watched, Asuka was the first to send out her Pokémon. "Leavanny, let's put some pizzicato into this battle!" she announced with a flourish as the Nurturing Pokémon emerged from its Pokéball, doing a curtsy once it landed on the ground.

Seeing her opponent's choice of Pokémon, the Bug-type Gym Leader smiled to herself. Not only was the Bug-type naturally super-effective against Grass-types, already stacking this battle in her favour, but Leavanny's dual typing of Bug and Grass caused it to have even more weaknesses than pure Grass-types, which she could easily exploit.

Having the perfect Pokémon in mind to start this battle, Perto City's Gym Leader plucked the second Pokéball from her bassoon, sending out her first Pokémon. "Here comes the sun! Volcarona!"

The Sun Pokémon beat its six wings as it settled onto the battlefield, the scales on its body emanating small sparks of fire as it did so. Before the Elite Four member had time to properly react, her opponent was already playing an eerily spiritual tune on her bassoon, causing Volcarona to shoot out a small orb of flame towards the sky, blasting away the few clouds as intense sunlight glared down onto the battlefield, while it began storing up heat in its body for a second attack.

"The piece the Gym Leader played was Kimigayo, the Japanese national anthem," Reina noted, slightly confused as to what move or pattern it corresponded to, then realized something. "...I get it now. Japan is known as the 'Land of the Rising Sun', so that first move should be Sunny Day, to boost Volcarona's super-effective Fire-type attacks, though I don't know what the second attack may be."

Kumiko was surprised at how sharp Reina's analytic skills were. Just by hearing the melody the Gym Leader played, she could immediately deduce the move her Pokémon used. No wonder Reina had previously mentioned that successful Trainers needed to be skilled in both battles and music in Octiva.

Returning to the battle, she could see that Asuka had taken out a metal euphonium mouthpiece. Lightly blowing into it, a silver-tinted hard light euphonium materialized into the Elite Four member's hands. Playing a melody that Kumiko recognized as a sped-up version of Bach's 'Air on the G String', Asuka's Leavanny blitzed forward at an inhuman (inPokémon?) speed towards Volcarona, and slashed it once with its right arm before Kumiko could even process what was going on.

"Domo arigato," Asuka solemnly spoke, most likely for added effect. "and… gomenasai."

When Leavanny stopped its rush, Volcarona immediately collapsed onto the ground, eliciting gasps of surprise from the onlooking audience. The residents of Perto City knew that Volcarona was one of the Gym Leader's strongest Pokémon, saved only for the toughest challengers. To see it defeated in one strike highlighted just how ungodly an Elite Four member's strength could be.

"Volcarona... is no longer able to battle." the stunned referee announced, barely managing to push her lips together to form a coherent sentence. Never in her tenure as a battle referee had she seen a Pokémon downed so quickly.

"How… how did it strike so fast and hard?" Kumiko wondered, also shocked at how quickly this first matchup had come to a close.

"My guess is that Leavanny's Ability is Chlorophyll, doubling its speed in sunlight, and the move it used there was Aerial Ace, based on the piece played." Reina commented, causing Kumiko to realize her mouth had betrayed her thoughts yet again. She really needed to stop doing that.

Recalling her Volcarona, the Gym Leader reattached its Pokéball back onto her bassoon and retrieved another one with a grim expression on her face, throwing it out. "Yanmega, put a beat to your wings!"

The Ogre Darner Pokémon fluttered down onto the battlefield, its four massive wings supporting its equally gigantic body. After it had settled down and was hovering over the battlefield, its Trainer played a continuation of 'Air' where Asuka had left off, but with the notes being longer and more drawn-out.

Yanmega beat its wings once, and massive blades of air slashed out from them towards Leavanny. Asuka slapped her euphonium once, creating a metallic 'thwack' sound. Both of Leavanny's arms glowed with a light green, and it cut through the approaching air currents by slicing outwards in a cross shape, diffusing them to its side.

"The first attack should be Air Slash, given that the notes played were longer than when Aerial Ace was used, since it's a _long _-range attack." Reina noted, causing Kumiko to face-fault at how she missed the obvious connection there. "Then, Leavanny used X-Scissor to cut through it, as the notation for percussive notes in an instrumental score should be an 'x' replacing the notehead."

Realizing how deep Reina's knowledge about the connection between music and battles went, Kumiko felt overwhelmed at her natural superiority in both subjects. How was she supposed to even near Reina's talent in both subjects, let alone match her?

Picking up the 'Air' melody again at a faster tempo, Asuka's Leavanny moved faster than the eye could see and delivered another Aerial Ace to Yanmega, leaving it spiralling towards the ground as it fell unconscious.

"Yanmega is unable to battle." the referee stated, having gotten over her initial shock at how powerful the Elite Four member was. The crowd was also less responsive, with only a few people reacting to the expected result.

The Gym Leader recalled her Yanmega, and reached for a third Pokéball, throwing it out. "Ninjask! You're the only one that can catch up to its silhouette!"

The Ninja Pokémon sprang out and zipped towards its opponent as its Trainer began playing 'Air' again. What Kumiko didn't expect was Asuka joining in with a perfect counterpoint to the Gym Leader's notes, creating a duet of bass instruments that was echoed on the battlefield as Ninjask and Leavanny engaged in a high-speed battle of Aerial Ace versus Aerial Ace, both Pokémon matching the other's tempo beat-by-beat.

However, while Ninjask was the Gym Leader's first Pokémon able to keep up with Leavanny's speed, it was hopelessly outmatched in the raw power department. Bit by bit, it was being forced back by Leavanny's stronger strikes, unable to handle the recoil from them. Eventually, one of Leavanny's legs glowed the same color as its arms, and Ninjask was knocked out by an Aerial Ace-empowered kick upwards.

"Ninjask is unable to battle." At this point, the referee was getting bored with her job. There was simply no spectacle or excitement in this battle, only a precise and methodical decimation.

Sighing, the Gym Leader had no choice but to recall Ninjask and send out her fourth Pokémon. "Ariados, wash your opponent out!"

After the Long Leg Pokémon emerged from its Pokéball, it immediately began layering rows of Toxic Spikes and Sticky Webs around itself, clearly to prevent Asuka's Leavanny from directly approaching it, as it had done in the previous three matchups.

Undeterred by this minor setback, Asuka continued to play her rendition of 'Air', only with the tempo being much slower, just like what the Gym Leader had done a moment ago. Both of Leavanny's arms glowed with a light purple energy, and it unleashed an Air Slash which, while weaker than the one that Yanmega had used previously, still managed to blow away the obstacles separating it and Ariados.

Once Leavanny's pathway was clear, Asuka's melody picked up speed, and before anyone realized what had happened, Ariados was down for the count, courtesy of another breakneck Aerial Ace from Leavanny.

"Ariados is unable to battle." the referee announced while lounging in a folding chair, drinking a Soda Pop. What was the point of her even being here anymore? Just to be yet another spectator to this curb-stomp?

While she knew that the majority of her Pokémon were unable to battle, the Gym Leader was still adamant that she had a chance of winning. The townspeople had gathered to watch and support her, and she couldn't let them down with a disappointing result against one of Octiva's best and brightest.

Reaching for her fifth Pokéball, the Gym Leader was determined to at least bring this battle to a draw, if not outright win. "Scolipede, show your hidden charms!"

The Megapede Pokémon landed on the ground, its weight causing the ground to rumble under its many feet, and the Gym Leader began to play a peppy melody on her bassoon that Kumiko recognized as 'Ra Ra Rasputin'.

Not only did this confuse Kumiko as to what the Gym Leader what planning, it also seemed to confound Asuka as well, the Elite Four member not giving any command via her euphonium for the first time in the battle.

An expression of agitation started to grow on Asuka's face as she couldn't figure out what her opponent was trying to do. Finally giving up on solving this mystery, she played 'Air' again, and Leavanny rushed forward with Aerial Ace.

However, what met its arm blade attack was not Scolipede's soft underbelly, but rather its tough horns, which were glowing venomous purple. The Megapede Pokémon pushed further with its attack, and as soon as its horns touched Leavanny's body, it drenched the Nursing Pokémon with a toxic liquid from its mouth, then splashed it with more poison from its body.

"I get what she's trying to do!" Reina exclaimed, causing Kumiko to turn towards her for an explanation for what just happened. "As the song recounts, Rasputin died from a poisoning, so the Gym Leader was commanding her Scolipede to first use an attack to poison Leavanny, then use Venom Drench and Venoshock to weaken and damage it even further! It all makes sense now!"

Returning to the battle, Kumiko could see that Asuka's Leavanny wasn't faring so well for the first time in that battle. As the Gym Leader continued to play 'Ra Ra Rasputin', Scolipede continued to barrage Leavanny with Poison-type attacks, exploiting the Grass-type Pokémon's weakness.

Right when Scolipede seemed to gain the edge in this matchup, Asuka played a short snippet of the brass instrument classic 'The Carnival of Venice', and Leavanny's right arm glowed orange. Lunging forward, it stabbed Scolipede with a single strike, bringing the Megapede Pokémon down on its four knees.

As Scolipede fell down, the referee made her judgement, slightly thankful that this battle had taken longer than the rest. "Scolipede is no longer able to battle."

However, unlike the previous ones, this victory did not come cheap for Asuka and Leavanny. Not only was it Poisoned, but it was weakened by Venom Drench and hurt for the first time in battle, quite grievously thanks to Venoshock's heavier damage on Poisoned opponents.

"The move that Leavanny used should have been Facade." Reina thought out loud. "Since its power doubles when the user has a status effect, it would make sense to use it after Leavanny was poisoned to deliver a stronger blow, though I can't figure out why the 'Carnival of Venice' was the piece chosen as its corresponding command."

Kumiko was also trying to think about why Asuka had chosen to use that piece to represent Facade, but then realized something. Facade was another word for mask, and the real-life Carnival of Venice was a masked ball.

Telling Reina about her discovery, a look of surprise dawned on the trumpeter's face. All throughout this battle, she was the first to make the connections between the pieces played and their corresponding moves, but she didn't expect Kumiko to do so as well. Though she knew that Kumiko admired her and saw her as the superior one in the relationship, Reina had severely underestimated Kumiko's own talents, blinded by her own merits.

The balance in their bond was slowly shifting, and it was not towards Reina's side.

Shaking away the thought of Kumiko as a potential rival, Reina focused her attention back on the battle, where the Gym Leader recalled her Scolipede. Though she had only one Pokémon left, Reina suspected that the tide of the battle had become more even towards the Gym Leader. A good Trainer would have an ace in the hole to rely on when things went wrong in a battle, which they did on this occasion.

Plucking up the lowest Pokéball on her bassoon, the Gym Leader threw it out, her last-ditch Pokémon emerging. "Beedrill, take flight!"

As the Poison Bee Pokémon burst out from its Pokéball, the Gym Leader began to trill on her bassoon. A strange multicolored stone on her neck strap began to glow brightly, illuminating the whole battlefield, while another stone of similar size and shape attached to a light green bow on Beedrill's head began to shine as well.

When the glaring light faded, Beedrill's appearance had changed. The two stingers on its arm had grown in size, looking more like lances, while its feet had also turned into smaller stingers. The spike on its lower abdomen had become a drill-like point, attached to its body by a black joint. Its four wings had somehow split into six, and its head antennae were now facing backwards.

"That's a Mega Evolution!" Reina blurted out. "No wonder the Gym Leader was saving it as her trump card! With this, she may have an actual chance of winning!"

Trilling up and down her note range, the Gym Leader linked the end of her ornament into Rimsky-Korsakov's 'Flight of the Bumblebee', and her Beedrill darted straight at Leavanny.

Asuka was forced on the defensive for the first time, as her weakened Leavanny struggled to even parry Beedrill's lightning-fast stinger jabs, punctuated by the accents the Gym Leader put on her notes.

"The sunlight must have faded, so the speed boost from Chlorophyll should have gone away now," Reina commented. "Adding on to Venom Drench's incapacitation, it's a miracle that Leavanny can still keep up to Beedrill's attacks."

The Gym Leader's Bedrill was zipping around so fast that Kumiko could see its afterimages, which seemed to have mass as they also chipped in to help attack Leavanny, leaving it with no room to defend itself.

Blowing into her euphonium's mouthpiece to deactivate it, Asuka's crisp and clear voice rang throughout the battlefield with her last order. "Facade, rondo alla turca!"

In a whirlwind of motion, Leavanny spun around in a pirouette with its right arm outstretched, glowing bright orange as it did so. All of Beedrill's afterimages dissipated upon contact, and eventually the original was hit as well, sent flying across the battlefield.

Before it could impact its Trainer, the Gym Leader reached for Beedrill's Pokéball in time, recalling it just before she faced all five of its stingers.

"Beedrill is unable to battle." the referee announced. "The winner of this match is Asuka Tanaka of the Elite Four!"

As the crowd looked on at the Gym Leader's crushing defeat, Asuka recalled her Leavanny and walked over towards the Gym Leader, stretching a hand out for her to shake. "That was a good battle! Your performance is one worthy of a Gym Leader! Keep up the good work!"

The Gym Leader took Asuka's hand and shook it. "Thank you very much, Ms. Tanaka. Truth be told, I haven't had a challenging battle like this in a long time, and to have my first opponent of this caliber be an Elite Four member is an honor. To experience the raw strength of the one they call 'Lady Greensleeves' first-hand was a memorable existence."

Asuka laughed. "They still call me that? I thought that was a stupid nickname the tabloids made up to sell more shots of me!" She turned to the crowd, and looked directly towards Kumiko. "Well then, I'd better be off! My precious kouhai Oumae-chan is waiting for me in the audience!" Asuka took a deep breath. "Kumikooooooo, wherefore art thou? Come out come out wherever you arrrrre…"

All eyes turned to look at Kumiko as her face flushed a deep red, embarrassed by all the attention the Elite Four member was suddenly giving her. So many people facing her made Kumiko just want to Defense Curl up into a ball and hide in her own little corner.

* * *

"Please stop harassing Kumiko. All that attention you're giving her just makes her even more nervous."

After Asuka's catcall into the audience, she dragged Kumiko along with her to a nearby restaurant, with Reina following to make sure that the Elite Four member didn't violate Kumiko's dignity in more ways than one.

Reina looked around at the mostly desolate locale. Despite its billing as a family-owned Italian restaurant, she knew that it was one of many in a chain brand. To lie to people so blatantly like that was like something a run-of-the-mill light novel would do to entice its readers.

Not helping matters was the seating arrangement, with Reina stuck on her own while Asuka was coddling Kumiko like a baby on the other side of the table, the brown haired girl playing along to avoid any further suffering.

Though Reina was glaring daggers at Asuka's overly-affectionate treatment of her special one, the Elite Four member seemed unaware of her ice-cold stare, and was still merrily making conversation with the two of them. "Kumiko-chan, I didn't know that you had such a beautiful friend tagging along with you. How lucky you are!"

"Ehhhh, Asuka. She's just my friend. Nothing more…" Kumiko's whining only seemed to please the Elite Four member even more, who was pinching at her cheek and stretching it like mochi at the moment.

"Enough talking about yourself!" Asuka declared, slamming her hands on the table, causing their drinks to shake around in their glasses. "Now it's time for me to talk about you!"

Asuka continued "Oumae-chan, what you did in your Gym battle was extremely impressive. Winning against a Gym Leader despite a type disadvantage? That may be easy for someone like me, but for you? Say, which Gym Badge of yours was that?"

"Uhh… it was my second Gym Badge." Kumiko answered, "But actually, that was my second attempt at challenging this Gym. I fainted the first time because I was scared of Masquerain, which Reina helped me to overcome later that day."

"Ohh…" Asuka seemed interested now. "So it was by her compelling charms that you managed to win the next day? Your friend there's a real keeper. Better guard her at all costs, or others will come in and sweep her off your feet!"

"At this rate, it's more like she's the one guarding me." Kumiko replied. "No matter what we do, be it in battles or music, she's always the one that comes out on top."

"You two are both musicians? Well color me impressed! What instruments do you two play?" Asuka asked them.

Reina spoke first. "I play the trumpet, and Kumiko plays the euphonium. I've been playing for almost a decade now, and I suspect that Kumiko's experience also goes far back. No matter how long she's played for, I can vouch for her skills as a competent euphonium player."

"Ahh, I see you also are a euphonist of culture as well, just like me." Asuka noted while tilting her glasses, which glinted from the reflected light ominously. "Then that means we have something else in common, aside from being Grass-type lovers. Care for senpai to give you some private lessons, if you get my gist?"

Reina's icy stare turned absolute zero at Asuka's comment.

"No thanks, Asuka." Kumiko politely declined. "I'm currently focusing on my Pokémon Journey for now." Turning to Reina, she continued on, oblivious to Asuka's blatant offer. "You're too kind towards me. We all know that you're so much more talented. Who's the one always being picked for the solos back in middle school?"

"Now now now, you two." Asuka chided them like a loving mother. "You can stroke each other's backs for as long as you want, but I've got to get going. Need to report back at League HQ about Ms. Kitamura's performance against me."

Asuka's leaned forward to look at Kumiko and Reina. "Though since both of you have managed to impress me so much in such a short amount of time, I'll put in a good word about you two, and someone will be on their way with something special for both of you soon."

She stood up, towering over the table. "Don't worry about the bill. I'll have the counter put it on the League's tab. Ta-ta!" With that, she turned towards the counter and left Kumiko and Reina alone.

"Asuka's really something, isn't she?" Kumiko asked Reina, who was still fuming while in 'ice queen' mode.

"Yes, she is… something else indeed." Reina's stone-cold expression was still one of a woman scorned.

"Hey, Ririka-chan. Is that the girl who Asuka said was her kouhai?" a new voice interjected, causing Kumiko to look up. Near their table, a girl with bob-cut black hair was talking to another girl, whose curly light-brown hair fell down to her shoulders.

"It is, Kanade-chan!" the brown-haired girl replied. "You should go talk to her!"

The black-haired girl approached Kumiko, a calm smile decorating her petite face. "Nice to meet you. I'm Kanade Hisaishi, and I'd like to be your kouhai."

* * *

A/N: This chapter will be one of the few (if not the only chapter) where my theme of naming the titles after musical terms/pieces will not be obeyed, since the reference to Evangelion Episode 8 was too appropriate to pass up (but there is a piece on the Evangelion OST by the same name, so the rule isn't technically broken).

The 'family-owned' Italian restaraunt that appears in this chapter (which also appears in the novel and anime) is actually based off of Saizeriya, a Japanese-style Italian chain restaraunt that has branches in Japan (including Uji), China, and Hong Kong (where I live, so I have first-hand experience eating there).

The battle between Asuka and Raina is the most elaborate battle (thus far) that I've written for this story, so I hope that I've done Asuka justice with it. Any feedback about the writing style is accepted, positive or otherwise!


	12. Chapter 12: Haven't Met You Yet

Upon closer inspection, Kumiko could see that this 'Kanade' looked quite peculiar.

The smile she saw earlier now looked more enigmatic than friendly, and it was framed by her ruby-red eyes and raven-black hair, which had a small red bow adorning it. Her brown vest was worn over a blouse with particularly large arm holes, and black lace lined the bottom cuff of her skirt. Rounding out her outfit were short white socks inside bright-red pumps.

After her mind was finished being distracted by this newcomer's appearance, Kumiko's mind went straight back to the subject matter at hand. "BWAAHHH-what?" She did a spit take at this offer. This girl just walked up to her and asked to be her kouhai?

"Wh-what do you mean you want to be my kouhai? Please explain to me!" Kumiko's delayed reaction was frantic, not helped by the fact that this proposal seemingly came with no explanation from a complete outsider.

"Well, it goes like this," her brown-haired friend chimed in. The other girl's bangs were screwed up at the top of her head, with a black star-shaped pin on the left side of her hair, and she wore a lime-green dress covered by a cardigan with long sleeves. "Kanade-chan's been a massive fan of Asuka since her rookie days, and because Asuka's the most mysterious member of the Elite Four, Kanade-chan constantly wants to find out more about her. That's why she wanted to be your kouhai: she wants to learn from Asuka's own protegé."

"Woah, OK. Slow down there." Kumiko tried to digest all the information that had just gone through her ears. "So your friend there's a massive Asuka fan? Why not ask her yourself?"

"It's because Asuka's well-known for being reclusive, despite her bubbly exterior." Kanade answered. "Nobody really knows that much about her, so I'd hope that you would know more about her, being her kouhai and all."

"I-I don't know much about Asuka, honestly!" Kumiko was once again a shadow courtesy of the majestic Asuka. "She just approached me after my Gym battle today and randomly decided to declare me her kouhai because we had some things in common! That's all!"

"Really?" Kanade turned inquisitive. "Wow, then I guess she's even more strange than the rumors say. Well then, even though I can't learn more about Asuka from you, can I at least have your phone number so that we can keep in touch? If it's possible, could you also notify me when you see Asuka again?"

"Uh yeah, sure." Swapping phone numbers with Kanade, Kumiko had felt that this was an unfair exchange of information. Despite blurting out everything she knew about Asuka, which admittedly wasn't that much, she hadn't really learned much about Kanade in return. Forget Asuka, Kanade was the more mysterious person.

"Oh! I was so wrapped up in helping Kanade-chan that I forgot to introduce myself!" the brown-haired girl called out. "I'm Ririka Kenzaki, Kanade's best friend and part-time Day Care helper!"

"You don't need to blurt that out every time we meet someone new, Ririka-chan," Kanade politely snarked at her. "Yes. Ririka-chan here's very passionate about Pokémon breeding. She talks about Eggs so much that it's sometimes too painful to hear."

"Kanade-chan, you're such a big meanie sometimes." Ririka playfully whined, then turned to Kumiko and spoke normally again. "But since you've managed to impress my Kanade-chan so much, I've decided to give you and your friend a present. Come with me!"

* * *

Exiting the restaurant, their bill already paid by Asuka beforehand, Kumiko followed Ririka and Kanade, with Reina accompanying her. (Kumiko was mentally kicking herself for being a bad friend by basically ignoring Reina the whole time during her conversation with Kanade.)

Turning a corner, Ririka led them down a side street. Kumiko could see that the buildings here were more spread out compared to the ones in the city center. After continuing to head forward for a while, they arrived at a small house with a large fence enclosing a wide-open pasture behind it. In some ways, it reminded Kumiko of the Professor's laboratory back in Relude Town.

"Here we are!" Ririka cheerily announced. "Perto City Day Care, the only and best in all of Octiva!" She opened the house's front door and took a peek inside. "Oh. Looks like the owners aren't here, so I'll show you around. They won't mind though. I've helped a lot here since I was a kid."

As all four of them entered the house, Kumiko could see that it resembled a daycare for human children, with bright colors and happy designs on the walls. In front of them was a counter with a door behind it.

Ririka went to the side of the counter and lifted up a flap, letting them enter the counter space. Opening the door behind them, Kumiko could see that it led into a room that was more cramped, partly due to the rows and rows of shelves lining the entire width, all of them filled with Eggs in incubators.

As Ririka strolled around the room meticulously checking each container, Kumiko asked Kanade a question. "Is this even legal? I mean, if I'm not wrong, Ririka's going to give Reina and me an Egg each, right? Isn't that like stealing from another Trainer?"

"No it isn't." Kanade countered. "Some of the Eggs here were refused by Trainers who left their Pokémon here for various reasons, so the Day Care always has some extra to give out. Even though we can't go on our Pokémon journeys yet, Ririka-chan and I have gotten several Eggs each from the surplus, so we'll both have full teams when we set out."

Kumiko was surprised. "Wait, you two aren't of age yet? From the way you both were acting, I almost thought that you were as old as Reina and myself!"

Kanade laughed. "People sometimes say that I'm quite mature from my age, though not as much for Ririka-chan. We're both fifteen, so one more year to go!"

"Ah, found them!" Ririka announced, cradling two Egg containers beneath both her arms. She handed the one under her right arm to Kumiko and the one under her left arm to Reina.

After she had gotten an Egg from Ririka, Kumiko took a closer look at it. The top two-thirds of it was black, while spikes separated it from the bottom third, which was colored a dull blue. The spikes on the black portion were dotted with small magenta ovals stretching vertically. From how it looked, Kumiko couldn't figure out what Pokémon would hatch from the Egg, since she had never seen a Pokémon with those colors before.

Turning to look at Reina's Egg, Kumiko could see that it was a pure white, with the exception of light blue five-petal floral patterns dotted around its exterior. Again, she didn't know what Pokémon could possibly hatch from that Egg. Maybe a Grass-type, based on the flower patterns?

"Excuse me, can you tell us what's in these Eggs?" Reina politely asked Ririka, hoping to gain some insight about their mystery gifts. It wasn't nice to look a gift Horsea in the mouth, but Reina wanted to have assurance that the Egg she just received wouldn't hatch into a Rattata.

"Not telling!" Ririka teased. "Though I can guarantee that the Eggs you have will hatch into powerful Pokémon, since their parents were powerful Pokémon as well. Since Kumiko here managed to impress Kanade-chan so much, I'm only giving you two the best of the best!"

Ririka trailed off. "Though I wish I could do the same with Mizo-senpai…"

"Wait. Mizo-senpai? Do you mean Mizore Yoroizuka, heir of the Yoroizuka conglomerate?" Kumiko was surprised. Mizore wasn't exactly a common name, and hearing Ririka mention the girl that she had just met (albeit briefly) two days ago was interesting, to say the least.

"Yes, that's her." Ririka answered, a cute smile on her face. "I look up to her as much as Kanade-chan looks up to Asuka! Not only is she talented at the oboe, but rumors say that she's also a battling prodigy! She's rich, beautiful, and gifted! What's not to love about her?"

Kumiko flashed back at her short encounter with Mizore. The girl she had met didn't exactly display much of those traits, though the duration of their interaction could have something to do with that.

"I've tried to give her Eggs several times, but she always refused, saying that she already had too much Pokémon to look after." Ririka continued on, clearly disappointed that she didn't get the chance to give a token of appreciation to the person she most looked up to.

"Well maybe if you stop obsessively stalking her wherever she goes, then she would consider a present from you." Kanade retorted. "You know that your behaviour's eerily resembles that of the paparazzi, right?"

"I'm sorry Kanade-chan," Ririka pouted. "I won't do it again… unless?" She straightened up her composure again and faced Kumiko and Reina. "Though I hope that you two will take care of the Pokémon that hatches. I promise they won't let you down!"

* * *

After parting ways with Ririka and Kanade at the Day Care, Kumiko and Reina put their incubated Eggs inside their bags, which magically accommodated them without any noticeable bumps or bulges on their exterior, but they didn't think much about the physical impossibility of that.

Reina noticed that the sun was starting to go down after a long day. Between Kumiko's rematch, the sudden appearance of an Elite Four member and her subsequent battle with the Gym Leader, and receiving an Egg from a fangirl, the day was jam-packed with surprising events, ones that Reina would never have experienced if she hadn't gone on a Pokémon journey.

"Hey, Reina," Kumiko asked her. "You haven't challenged the Gym here, right. I mean, you could have done it while I was unconscious, but you were looking over me the whole time, right?"

"Oh, I can't believe I forgot about that," Reina laughed. "I guess that for me, your well-being was more important that a Gym Battle. Since it's so late, I'll do it tomorrow, then we'll both set out again after that."

"Sounds like a good plan to me." Kumiko responded, to which Reina nodded her head in approval.

Heading down the road back to the Pokémon Center, Reina could hear the faint sounds of jazz music emanating from a nearby building. Seeing that Kumiko had tilted her head in that direction, Reina gestured to her that they should go and take a look. After all, being a good musician meant that inspiration had to come from different genres of music, not just her favorite classical.

Heading down a staircase into the basement of the building, what they saw when they entered the jazz club was not to be expected. Despite having a similar layout to other establishments like it, with a raised stage in front of many tables, the performers tonight were not of the usual sort.

An Octillery was sitting on a drum throne with drumsticks in each of its eight tentacles, drumming away on a drum kit with far more than the typical nine drums, while a Machamp was playing two electric keyboards at once with its four arms, each keyboard producing different sound effects. A double bass was propped up by a stand, with a Bulbasaur strumming it using its left vine to adjust the pitch and its right vine to pluck the instrument, occasionally sprouting more vines to play more notes in a chord.

As Kumiko and Reina took their seats at a table for two, the piece was starting to come to a close, with the Octillery performing a drum fill as the Machamp slid both its right arms across the keyboard in a slow glissando at the end. As applause filled the room, a human emcee came on stage.

"And that was an arrangement of Tsubasa wo Kudasai, ladies, gentlemen, and Pokémon, performed by our house band OMB. Next up, a special guest performing with us tonight on vocals!"

As Kumiko and Reina were wondering who could fill in the role of vocalist, a Shiny Gardevoir ascended onto the stage, its blue hair and arms complementing the white of its body. Standing in front of the audience, it cleared its throat before addressing the audience.

"Hello and good evening," a voice sounded not only in Kumiko and Reina's heads, but in the minds of everyone in the room. "I'm Reiko, and I'll be the vocalist for the next piece, Haven't Met You Yet by Michael Bublé. I hope you enjoy my performance!"

Even though Kumiko had seen Pokémon use telepathy to communicate with human beings before (namely Meloetta), she was confused as to how it would be possible to sing with telepathy, since visualizing pitches mentally was difficult even for experienced musicians, when the Octillery gave four beats with its drumsticks, and the piece began.

After an eight-bar instrumental opening, the Gardevoir opened her mouth, and began to use Psychic waves to vibrate the air around her, creating the illusion that she was singing. A feminine voice not unlike the one that Kumiko and Reina heard in their heads began to sing, psychically voicing the lyrics of the pop song by shaping the air.

"I'm not surprised, not everything lasts; I've broken my heart so many times I stopped keepin' track."

"Talk myself in, I talk myself out; I get all worked up then I let myself down…"

As the Gardevoir continued to sing, Kumiko and Reina couldn't help but clap their hands along to the music, the accompanying jazz band providing the beat and groove necessary to keep the song moving on its feet.

In the musical interlude, the instrumentalists each got a turn to solo and show off their skills. The Octillery used all eight tentacles at once to blend the drumbeats into an atonal harmony of percussion, while the Machamp riffed out an easygoing melody that crossed both pianos, and the Bulbasaur finished off on the double bass with a simple single note line with occasional chords thrown in.

After a while, it was time for the vocal solo with supporting piano chords. The Gardevoir sang those lyrics with so much skill and passion that if Kumiko didn't know her true identity, she would have mistaken her for a human singer.

"And someday I know it'll all turn out, and I'll work, to work it out."

"Promise you kid, I'll give more than I get, than I get, than I get, than I get!"

The song neared its climax as the audience enthusiastically clapped with the increasingly energetic beats, while the jazz band tried their best to keep the mood in check, not wanting to end this song on a rushed ending. With a positive tone, the Gardevoir sang her final line, bringing the song to a close.

"I just haven't met you yet!"

Thunderous applause filled the entire club as each member of the band took a bow to the best of their ability, with the lead vocalist going last. After the applause died down, the Gardevoir projected her voice in their minds once again.

"Everyone, thank you so much for coming out tonight and supporting my performance!" she mentally spoke. "_T_ruth be told, I'm quite new to the performing scene, since I needed to practice a lot to vibrate the air with my Psychic abilities to sing like a human, so I'm glad you all liked it!"

Another round of applause filled the room, the audience clearly impressed by the Gardevoir's impressive telekinetic technique. Hearing an excellent vocalist sing was one thing, but with the unique way that Gardevoir did it, listening to her was even more rewarding.

"I wonder if Orpheus and Eurydice could do the same." Reina turned and commented to Kumiko. "It would take a lot of practice, but I'm confident that with enough training, they could do it, though telepathy would need to be the first step.

After ordering a platter of snacks, Kumiko and Reina enjoyed a nice dinner in the moody light, with relaxing jazz music serving as the backdrop for their meal. Once they finished and paid the bill, they headed back to the Pokémon Center as the moon rose in the sky, further deepening the night.

Even though the sudden detour into an underground jazz club was unexpected, Kumiko and Reina both enjoyed it. Not only had they gotten to see a Pokémon-only ensemble for the first time, but had also gotten a look at an unexpected use of a Pokémon's powers, giving them both some inspiration for what they could do.

Arriving at the Pokémon Center, Kumiko and Reina went back to their room, tired after their long and hectic day. Finishing up their nightly routines, they snuggled into bed together, happy to be in close proximity to each other again. Both slept well, knowing that they were by each other's side.

* * *

As the first cracks of sunlight peered into the room, Kumiko looked over at Reina, whose arms were wrapped around her midsection. Even though this had happened before, Kumiko didn't feel afraid or nervous at this situation, partly because she had grown accustomed to Reina's calming presence over the past few days, and partly because she was doing the same as well.

Seeing Reina sleep so softly was like something out of a dream, but Kumiko knew that if Reina was by herself, she wouldn't let herself go that easily, so she lightly tapped on Reina's shoulder, hoping to wake her up.

"Reina, wake up. Today's the day of your Gym battle, remember?" Kumiko spoke quietly, but that seemed to have no effect on the resting Reina. Wracking her head for ways to wake Reina up, Kumiko suddenly had a brainwave.

Reaching in her bag for her Pokédex, she took it out and tapped on a button lightly as light spilled out in the shape of a euphonium. Running her fingers across the pistons and blowing in the mouthpiece, she sat down on the bed next to the sleeping Reina and began to play Grieg's Morning Song from Peer Gynt, its soothing melody filling the previously silent space.

Across the bed, Kumiko could see Reina slowly blinking her eyes open, then rubbing them with her hands. Propping herself up and stretching her arms outwards, Reina turned to look at Kumiko. "Wow, you're better than I thought. The way you handled your phrasing was much smoother than in middle school, and your notes seemed to pop out more."

"Thanks Reina, but I'm not as skilled as you are. If you were playing this, I'm sure that it would have sounded amazing. My ability just can't measure up to yours."

"Nonsense." Reina felt slighted at how Kumiko was demeaning herself in front of her. "You're already one of the best euphonists I know, and that's including my father's acquaintances. I can't stand the sight of you self-depreciating. Have more faith in your skills."

"The way you say that makes it feel like you're scolding me." Kumiko laughed at that thought, much to Reina's confusion. "You can be so scary sometimes!"

After that brief bout of awkwardness, Kumiko and Reina went down and ate breakfast, then headed to the Gym for Reina's challenge.

When they arrived, the notice on the front door saying that only the outdoors battlefield could be used was removed, so Kumiko and Reina entered the Gym proper. Inside, they saw the Gym Leader with a Leavanny, who was currently using Grass Knot to generate plant material to repair the walls.

"Oh, it's you two again." the Gym Leader noted. "What brings you here today?"

"I would like to have my Gym Battle with you." Reina answered.

"How many badges do you have?" the Gym Leader asked.

"Currently one."

"Then these are the rules," the Gym Leader clarified. "Each person can use two Pokémon, and the first person whose Pokémon are knocked out loses. The challenger can switch anytime during the battle."

With that, she recalled her Leavanny and walked over to the other side of the battlefield, while Reina readied the two Pokéballs she had on hand and Kumiko went to the sidelines to spectate. Once she confirmed that both sides were ready, the referee raised both her hands. "Battle begin!"

The Gym Leader sent out her Pokémon first. "Climb up, Spinarak!"

The String Spit Pokémon burst out from its Pokéball, mandibles clicking as it landed on the ground, ready to do battle for the third time in as many days.

"Eurydice, let's raise hell." Reina called out as she sent out her first Pokémon. Her Ralts landed on the floor, facing the same opponent her brother did previously.

"Use String Shot to grapple on!" the Gym Leader commanded her Pokémon, and her Spinarak obliged, spitting out a thread of string towards Eurydice.

Instead of ordering her Pokémon directly, Reina took out her Pokédex and selected the trumpet option, then started to play an ominous tune that Kumiko recognized as Saint-Saëns' 'Danse Macabre'.

Eurydice formed a sphere of spectral energy in her hands, then blasted it out straight at Spinarak. The high-velocity Shadow Ball moved faster than Spinarak could dodge, and when it made its impact, Spinarak was rendered unconscious.

"Spinarak is unable to battle." the referee announced. As the Gym Leader recalled her Pokémon, Kumiko was amazed that Reina could give such a decisive blow in one attack. It had taken much longer for her to knock out the same Spinarak when battling with Orpheus, and for Reina do that so quickly with his sister was simply an astounding display of her battling prowess.

As Kumiko wondered what Reina's plan for the Gym Leader's Masquerain was, the trumpeter took out Eurydice's Pokéball and pressed the button on it. "Eurydice, you did great. Now get some rest."

Confused as to why Reina had withdrawn Eurydice, Kumiko intently watched on as her partner took out her other Pokéball and threw it onto the battlefield. "Idina, rise like the break of dawn!"

Reina's starter emerged from her Pokéball and levitated above the battlefield, waiting for her Trainers orders. Across the Gym, the Gym Leader sent out her own Pokémon. "Masquerain, face twilight!"

The Eyeball Pokémon beat its wings as it fluttered down onto the battlefield, meeting its opponent eye-to-eye. As soon as it settled into a comfortable height, the Gym Leader gave her order. "Use Bug Buzz!"

Masquerain's wings began to beat rapidly, and the resulting vibrations became waves of energy making their way towards Idina. Undeterred, she simply phased herself underground, and waited until Masquerain couldn't sustain the attack anymore.

With Idina still hiding beneath the floor, Reina began playing 'Danse Macabre' on her trumpet again, but this time splitting each note in the section she played into two. Idina rose up and conjured a Shadow Ball between both her hands, much larger than the one Eurydice had produced. However, instead of firing it out, she split it into two smaller ones, one in each hand.

As soon as Reina stopped playing, Idina flung both of her Shadow Balls outward, and they curved towards Masquerain. As it looked at the two attacks headed towards it, the Gym Leader decided on her next course of action. "Use Gust to blow them away!"

Masquerain flapped its wings, whipping up a small gale. The wind managed to dissipate one of the Shadow Balls, but the other one remained intact, suddenly swerving in the air to hit Masquerain on its side, causing it to crash into the ground.

When the dust settled, it was clear that Masquerain was in no condition to continue.

"Masquerain is no longer able to battle." the referee announced.

As Reina went over to the Gym Leader to collect her badge, Kumiko legs were starting to shake a little. How could Reina, who started journeying around the same time as her and had the same number of Pokémon, be all that more skilled at Pokémon battling and music?

It just wasn't fair.

Starting to feel uncomfortable feelings pent up inside of her, Kumiko couldn't keep them bottled up, but she didn't want to make a fool of herself or hurt Reina's feelings, so she did the only thing she could: congratulate Reina wholeheartedly.

"That was awesome, Reina!" Kumiko shouted from the bottom of herself, venting out her frustrations through praise of her special one. Across the Gym, Reina could hear Kumiko's most heartfelt words as clearly as day, and shouted back. "Thank you very much!"

* * *

After their battle of decibels in the Gym, Kumiko and Reina were back outside the Pokémon Center with their and Pokémon all healed up and ready to go.

"Say, Reina." Kumiko asked, having some burning questions inside of her. "I've got two questions about your Gym Battle: how did Eurydice know Shadow Ball, and what trick did Idina use to control her Shadow Ball so that it could hit the Gym Leader's Masquerain?"

"Idina taught Eurydice how to control Ghost-type energy," Reina explained, "and Idina was using Psychic to keep one of her Shadow Balls intact and control its trajectory, so it didn't fade when Masquerain use Gust."

"Ohhh, I see. Guess I'll have to think up my own strategies to beat you then!" Though she said it in a joking tone of voice, Kumiko was dead serious about wanting to improve how she approached battle, and one day meet Reina at her level of sophistication. How could she be accepted by Reina without being able to keep up with her?

"Good luck with that." Reina's tone of voice was endearing to Kumiko's ears, but she swore there was an undercurrent of sarcasm in it. "Now that we're done here, let's get going on the path to Minant City, where the nearest Gym is."

Walking out of Perto City from the other way they came, Kumiko and Reina remained undisturbed on their trek for a short while, until they heard a 'pop' in front of them, and two familiar faces materialized along with their Pokémon, smelling like burnt soot and covered with ashes.

Kumiko was the first to speak up. "Natsuki. What."

Natsuki just gave a friendly wave. "Hiya, kid. Bet you didn't expect to meet me here, didya?"

Meanwhile, Reina was surprised at who turned up. "Yuuko? How are you here, and why are you tagging along with such an uncouth and rowdy person?"

Coughing out some dust, the ribboned girl spoke last. "Same goes to you, Kousaka. Can't believe your friend over there knows Natsuki. I swear, she's like a magnet for weirdos."

An awkward silence followed as the realization set in that most people recognized each other here. Breaking the pause, Reina let out a small 'ahem' and made her declaration.

"I believe some introductions are in order."

* * *

A/N: Since Kanade and Ririka don't wear any casual clothes during their time on-screen in Chikai and Liz, Kanade's clothes are based on a description from the second-year novel True Stories, which are translated by the lovely Team Oumae and available to read online, while Ririka's clothes are based on her swimsuit from Liz.


	13. Chapter 13: Amazing Grace - Part 1

Following a moment of confusion, a series of introductions occurred where Natsuki introduced a fuming Yuuko to Kumiko, and Yuuko in turn introduced Natsuki to Reina with a series of words that would make a sailor blush.

After that bizarre debacle, all four people involved sat down, and were trying to figure out what had just happened in the past few minutes.

"So, let's start from the beginning, Natsuki. Tell us where you and Yuuko were a while ago." Kumiko prompted.

"Well, it all started when-" Natsuki began, but she was cut off by a neurotic Yuuko.

"That idiot over there teleported us straight into the mouth of a volcano while we were looking at it from a cable car!" Yuuko ranted. "if it wasn't for Natsuki's Meowstic tagging on to the Psychic signature of your Pokémon, us two would have been reduced to ashes right now!"

"Who was it that suggested that we take a closer look at Mt. Chimney, princess?" Natsuki retorted, raising her eyebrows at the crazed Yuuko.

"When I said that, I meant taking a look the normal way by riding the cable car up to the observation deck at the peak, not some buffoonish plot which involved teleporting us straight on a one-way bungee jump to certain doom, you doofus!" Yuuko angrily spat.

"Look, I'm sorry if my Pokémon misjudged the distance between the observation deck and the air during teleportation, but whose idea was it in the first place to go on a trip to Hoenn in the first place?" Natsuki's question seemed to infuriate Yuuko even further.

"If it remember correctly, it was because a certain someone begged to go with me on a trip somewhere, and it just so happened that my Pokémon could remember how to teleport there from a family vacation, using yours as a power amplifier." Yuuko snarked.

"At least it was fun while it lasted. And hey, we both managed to catch new Pokémon there!" Natsuki turned to Kumiko. "Yo kid, want to see my new partner?"

At this point, Kumiko and Reina were now eagerly chatting amongst themselves, having grown disinterested in their friends' bickering. Slightly ticked off, both Natsuki and Yuuko shouted in unison. "WILL YOU TWO STOP ACTING SO LOVEY-DOVEY?"

Shocked at Natsuki and Yuuko's sudden outburst, both Kumiko and Reina blushed at their comment. Even though they both had no way of verifying it, the comment hit closer to the mark than both of them thought.

"What was it that you said about your Pokémon, Natsuki?" Kumiko asked, having missed out on the minutiae of Natsuki's expository rant after tuning it out midway through to talk with Reina.

"I said, prepare to be amazed by my Pokémon." Natsuki addressed Kumiko and Reina more slowly this time, slightly disgruntled at the fact that they had ignored her the first time around.

"But I've already seen most of them before." Kumiko commented, but her friend seemed to ignore her words, instead choosing to accentuate her own with a dramatic flourish of her hands.

"Well, your friend over there's just met me for the first time, so let's use this as a learning experience for her, hmm?" Scooping the six Pokéballs she had into her hand, Natsuki threw them all out at once in front of her. "Come on out, you guys!"

With multiple repeating flashes of light, Natsuki's Pokémon materialized in front of her, each looking around before confirming that they weren't in a battle or yet another potentially dangerous situation their Trainer had thrown herself in. All of them breathed collective sighs of relief.

Natsuki walked over to her yawning Slaking. "This guy over here is my starter Pokémon Largo. He's been with me ever since my journey began, and even though he's the laziest Pokémon around, I couldn't have gotten out of several tight spots without his help."

After stroking Largo's fur, she went over to her Musharna. "Zenzense was given to me as a therapy Pokémon soon after I got diagnosed with narcolepsy partway through my journey. She mostly rests on my head and sucks at my dreams to prevent me from suddenly falling asleep, but she's been getting better at battles lately."

"Wait," Kumiko noticed "It's only been a week since I last saw you and Zenzense, and yet she's already evolved. What happened?"

"A little thing called a Moon Stone that I managed to find in Hoenn," Natsuki answered, then started to wander over to her next Pokémon before her eyelids suddenly snapped shut and she lost her balance, starting to fall down. Zenzense immediately floated over to her Trainer and latched onto her head, eyes glowing green as she did so.

Natsuki's eyes flew wide open, and she managed to catch herself before impacting the ground, Zenzense still on her head. "Whew, that was a close one. See what I mean there, kid?"

"Yeah, all that showed was that you're a disorganized mess, Natsuki." Yuuko snarked. "Remember your doctor's orders that Zenzense needs to stay on your head for at least half the time you're awake?"

"It's because I have you around that I don't need to remember that much, princess." Natsuki replied. "You're just like my personal PDA: Noisy, flashy, and a tad bit annoying at times."

"I.. uhh… gah…" Yuuko was unable to form proper words after that remark from Natsuki, who continued to show off her Pokémon.

"Moving on, here's my Meowstic Soul. He was caught alongside Yuu-chan's own Meowstic as an Esuprr, since they were both siblings. Being together helps to boost both their Psychic powers, which is why we were able to take a quick jaunt to Hoenn in the first place."

"So another one of your Pokémon evolved not long after I last saw you, Natsuki?" Kumiko questioned, getting suspicious at all the very recent developments on Natsuki's team. "Were all of them legitimate, or did you just cram Rare Candies into their mouths like you were feeding a Goldeen?"

"Look, it was just a coincidence, OK?" Natsuki replied, frantically waving her hands in the air. "After you saw me with princess there teleporting away back at the Onic City Pokémon Center, we had a Pokémon battle. For some reason, we sent out our Espurr at the same time, and they evolved while battling each other."

"Fine, I'll accept your excuse." Kumiko sighed, not wanting to get wrapped up in another one of Natsuki's zany schemes again. Moving on, she went over to her Misdreavus, who was trying to annoy Zenzense by using Astonish to try and spook her, but she was too absorbed in processing Natsuki's dreams.

"This is Nocturne. Before I caught her, she was following me around for a while because Zenzense kept leaking dreams. After Soul detected her presence, she was more than willing to join my team, since she thought that I was interesting based on how my dreams felt."

"Interesting, huh?" Yuuko taunted, "Is that another word for disaster? 'Cause I'm sure it is with how you're choosing to use it."

"Hey, I'm proud to be a disaster unlike someone else here." Though Kumiko knew that barb was probably directed towards Yuuko, she felt a pang of shame in her heart when she heard it.

Beneath both Zenzense and Nocturne was a Komala, cradling onto its log like a pillow and rolling around on the ground. Natsuki picked up and cradled the Drowsing Pokémon in her arms, making swinging movements by rocking her shoulders around.

"This is Berceuse. I rescued her when she fell asleep and started rolling down towards a steep cliff. She may look like she's not paying attention and always drowsing off, but trust me kid; don't underestimate her in a battle. Seriously, don't. She hits like a truck and moves like one too."

A Sableye scuttled over and poked Natsuki on the back of her leg, scaring her and causing her to drop the sleeping Berceuse, who fortunately managed to roll away to safety. Natsuki turned to glare at the Sableye, who was maniacally giggling while covering its mouth with its hand.

"And this little trickster here is Samson, my latest catch in Hoenn. Ever since joining my team, which admittedly was only a short while ago, he's been causing chaos and making mischief non-stop. Adding on to that, he sometimes shoves dirt into his mouth and eats it. Disgusting!"

"I find that habit more repulsive than you do, but that doesn't excuse your ignorance of your Pokémon's needs." Yuuko interrupted. "Sableye need to consume a higher amount of minerals compared to other Pokémon, and the only way to do that aside from buying gemstones and breaking the bank is to let them eat dirt and absorb the minerals there, since their digestive system can process it."

"And that right there just about wraps up the introduction of my Pokémon." Natsuki concluded, ignoring Yuuko yet again. "So, how'd you like them? Impressed?"

"You have a well-rounded team that covers each other's weaknesses well," Reina commented. "But I've got one question: why are most of your Pokémon's traits related to sleeping? Is there something you are withholding about yourself as a Trainer?"

"Look, there's nothing suspicious about myself or my team." Natsuki hastily replied, slightly miffed at Reina's accusation. "I'm a narcoleptic, and it's just some sort of cruel irony that most of my Pokémon have a better sleep routine than I do, OK?"

"Then I apologize for my misunderstanding." Reina camly responded, having gotten a clearer grasp of the situation straight from the Horsea's mouth, then turned to Yuuko. "Would you also like to show your Pokémon to Kumiko as well? She hasn't met you yet."

"Well, technically we did." Kumiko chipped in. "Back when I first arrived in Onic City, I saw her and Natsuki arguing because Natsuki spilled her drink on one of Yuuko's Pokémon, but they teleported away before I could get any closer."

"Speaking of which," Natsuki continued on. "What happened to your two friends with you back there? Did something happen?"

"It's… kind of complicated." Kumiko wracked her mind trying to find the best way to answer Natsuki's question. "So basically, we challenged the Gym there, and I got my first Gym Badge while they didn't. The Gym Leader then asked someone to accompany me through the forest between Onic City and Perto City because it was quite hard to navigate. Seeing as I couldn't decline her invitation, I had to leave my friends behind at Onic City, though they were fine with the decision."

"Wow, what a deadbeat friend." Natsuki sarcastically remarked. "Ditching your pals because they weren't good enough? Is that how low you'll stoop to achieve your dreams of power, Kumiko Oumae?"

"Enough of that weird nonsense!" Yuuko ordered, snapping Natsuki back into her rightful place. "Seeing as Reina asked me so nicely, I'll show you my Pokémon to prove that they're better than that lazy bum Natsuki's!"

"Who are you calling lazy, you ribbon-wearing womanchild?" Natsuki spat out, shaking her fist at Yuuko. "I'll make sure that you'll regret ever making that comment for the rest of your short and miserable-" Natsuki's angry rant was cut off by the sound of Yuuko's Pokémon emerging from their Pokéballs.

"Alright fellas, let's get this show on the road!" A new voice not belonging to anyone present cried out, shocking Kumiko. She turned and looked around to see who had just said it, but there were still only four people plus Natsuki's Pokémon present in the clearing. A Chatot perched on Yuuko's shoulder noticed Kumiko's confused face and snickered to itself.

"The voice you just heard was from Klezmer, my starter Pokémon." Yuuko explained, gesturing at her Chatot. "He can be quite mischievous and annoying, but he'll see things through when it counts."

"Now that I say that aloud, it kind of reminds me of a certain person..." Yuuko pondered out loud, triggering Natsuki.

"Are you saying that I'm no better than a Chatot in your eyes, Yoshikawa?" an enraged Natsuki questioned. "I've already been compared to Largo multiple times already, but at least he's dependable in battle! What does your Chatot have to offer? Trash stats?"

"Haha, flaming redhead, flaming redhead! Watch out for extra spiciness!" Klezmer taunted, angering Natsuki even further.

"Grr… who are you calling flaming, you birdbrain? Next thing you know, I'll burn you so hard that you end up as a roast dinner!" Natsuki was already making strides towards Klezmer with her hands making strangling motions, but Yuuko recalled him before more damage could be done.

"Alright." Yuuko quickly continued, undeterred by Natsuki's ticked-off growling. "Moving on, next we have-" A loud bark interrupted her, causing Yuuko to crouch down and come face-to-face with a Furfrou, which Kumiko recognized as Yuuko's based on their previous encounter in Onic City, though the trim pattern looked different. Yuuko nuzzled her Furfrou's fur before standing up and turning back to Kumiko.

"This over here is Coloratura. I believe that you last met her when Natsuki spilled her drink on her fur, ruining the trim that I waited for three months to get!" She glared at Natsuki, who was calmly whistling in the background. "Thankfully, I managed to get her a new trim while in Hoenn, where the wait lines are much shorter, though it's not as good as her last one."

"You were basically camped outside the salon in Slateport City for two days straight." Natsuki remarked. "Man, those were the worst two days of my life! Stuck in a foreign city with nowhere else to go? That almost drove me insane!"

"Nobody told you to stick with me." Yuuko retorted. "You could've gone somewhere else and done your own thing, then rendezvous with me after Coloratura's trim was finished! But no, you had to go torture yourself and constantly check up on me, even during the dead of night!"

"Look, I didn't want you to catch a cold, princess. It was supposed to be a vacation, not 'Natsuki-babysits-Yuuko-in-another-region', right? That's why I wanted to make sure that you were OK. Nothing more!" With the way that Natsuki said that last sentence, it was apparent to both Kumiko and Reina that she cared more about Yuuko than she let on.

"Fine. We'll leave it at that." Yuuko bluntly replied. "Speaking of Natsuki, here's Heart, Soul's sister." She picked up the Meowstic next to her, the Constraint Pokémon softly purring in her arms as she gently stroked her belly. "We caught them together, and it was serendipity that they both evolved as they were battling each other."

Yuuko felt something tugging at her leg, and looked down to see her Sylveon using its prehensile ribbons to yank her. Placing Heart back on the ground, she picked up her Sylveon and continued to make the same motions on her belly.

"This little attention-seeker here is Tenerezza, who joined my team as an Eevee. I was feeding her Poké Puffs while thinking about which Eeveelution to evolve her into, and she spontaneously evolved into Sylveon on the spot, you cheeky furball." Yuuko scratched Tenerezza beneath her chin, which caused the Sylveon to squirm uncomfortably.

A blue aura surrounded Yuuko as she was suddenly yanked into the air by an invisible force, making her drop Tenerezza back onto the ground. After a while, she plummeted back down, her fall thankfully slowed by the same blue aura. Adjusting herself, Yuuko faced a Psyduck next to her with a disapproving stare, its eyes still glowing blue with Psychic energy.

"Rubato! I know you can't control your psychic headaches, but that's no excuse to take it out on me! At least focus them on Heart or Zenzense instead! They can counter it!" Yuuko scolded her Pokémon, then cleared her throat.

"Sorry about that." she clarified. "Rubato's always been the ditz of my team, ever since he joined by accidentally activating one of my empty Pokéballs and capturing himself. Even though he's not a Psychic-type, his raw telekinetic power is stronger than Heart or Zenzense, the two other Psychic-types on my team."

Next to Rubato, a Mawile was trying to console him, but the mouth at the back of its head kept laughing at the Psyduck's plight, snapping its monstrous jaws as it did so. Patting the biting appendage, Yuuko was able to calm it down, going back to a docile position.

"And right here is Delilah, my latest catch from Hoenn. I caught her alongside Natsuki's Sableye while we were in Granite Cave. Thankfully, she only needs to eat from her small mouth, otherwise I'd have exhausted my travelling budget on food."

Yuuko rummaged in her bag and pulled out a clear pink spherical stone with a grey and gold stripe running down the middle, prompting Natsuki to do the same with another spherical stone, this one clear yellow with a red and purple stripe down the middle.

"Speaking of which, we also found these strange stones after we caught Samson and Delilah." Yuuko explained. "I'm not sure what they are, and we didn't know who to ask about them, but we know that they have to be related to Sableye and Mawile in some way, since not only are they the same colors as them, but Samson and Delilah acted strangely around them."

Reina took a closer look at Natsuki's stone, then walked over to look at Yuuko's, with an expression of surprise on her face after she was finished.

"If I'm not mistaken, these are Mega Stones." Reina's informed Yuuko and Natsuki. "You two are extremely lucky to have found them, and even luckier for them to match your Pokémon, though that isn't surprising given where you discovered them. The only problem is that neither of you have Key Stones, so you can't use them to Mega Evolve your Pokémon."

"Well, now that we know what they are, we can ask around to see if anyone we know has Key Stones in their possession. I've seen how powerful Mega Evolutions can be on TV, and now that we've got that power for ourselves, it's time for the reign of Nakayoshikawa!" Natsuki proudly declared, putting a hand on her chest.

"Will you please stop calling us that? It makes us sound like we fused together into a single being, and my worst nightmare is to be stuck with someone like you for the rest of eternity!" Yuuko shouted at Natsuki.

"Whatever, princess. I'm just stating the facts here. Not only do our new Pokémon match, but we can Mega Evolve them together in a Multi Battle, making us the perfect duo! Imagine-" Natsuki's ramblings were cut short by a rather obvious growling from her stomach, causing an embarrassed blush to appear on her face.

"Screw that. You're hungry." Yuuko responded. "Now, help me get my cooking kit out of my bag, but don't touch any of it once you're done. I don't want a repeat of last time."

"Last… time?" Kumiko and Reina thought in unison as Natsuki helped Yuuko to pull equipment out of her bag, the contents of which were larger than the bag's volume.

* * *

After Yuuko cooked and served a meal for the four of them and their Pokémon with some help from Kumiko, they were back on the road again. For some reason, Natsuki and Yuuko hadn't parted ways with Kumiko and Reina, and were now tagging along with them.

"Natsuki, why haven't you left us yet?" Kumiko questioned. "It's kind of odd to see you and Yuuko tagging along with us when you two were mostly talking amongst yourselves, making it seem like we're two distinct groups."

"Ahh, it's because I want to see the blossoming of a new Trainer's journey, Kumiko." Natsuki replied, putting her hand on Kumiko's shoulder and leaning in close. "Plus, Kousaka over there looks like a pretty piece of flesh, dontcha think so?"

Kumiko turned flustered at her comment. "Natsuki! Don't talk about Reina that way! She's just my friend, nothing more!" Frantically waving her hands around, Kumiko made it hard for Natsuki to believe her.

"Yeah right, kid." Natsuki's teasing voice rang sarcastically. "I know someone in love when I see one. Quit lyin' to me and face your feelings. Hell, if you're bold enough, maybe in front of her!"

"Will you can it already? Gosh, I wished that Soul had just left you falling in that volcano. At least that would make my life easier." At this rate, Kumiko was done with Natsuki's playful nudging. How and why did she end up with a friend like this?

Nearby, Yuuko was also chatting with Reina, hoping to gain some insight into how they each managed to deal with their own companions' antics, but right now Yuuko was taking the lead with a vengeful rant about Natsuki's behaviour.

"-and then she suddenly falls asleep while I'm talking to her, making me catch her mid-fall and scrounge her bag for her Musharna's Pokéball to wake her back up." Yuuko's voice was running ragged at the sheer volume of words she was spewing out. "How about you, Kousaka? How's your friend treating you so far? Better or worse than Natsuki?"

"Don't use your friend as a unit of measure, Yuuko." Reina answered. "Kumiko's much better than her in almost every way. She's kind, honest, and quite endearing." Reina paused for a moment. "Though I frequently catch her trying to look at me."

If Yuuko had any sort of beverage in her mouth, she would have spit it out this very instant. "Wait, what? That's not normal in a friendship. I get it if you were looking at each other, but this being one-sided? I guess somebody has a cr~ush on you, Reina." she teased.

Hearing Yuuko's comment made Reina uncomfortable for some reason. Even though she already had an amicable friendship with Kumiko, Reina sometimes felt that she wanted more from Kumiko. She wanted to be hers, dote on her, hug her tight, kiss her…

That last remark caused a luminescent blush to appear on Reina's face as she put both her hands in front of her mouth. Those last few actions sounded like something a romantic partner would do. Could it be…

Whatever lingering thoughts that Reina had disappeared as Natsuki leaned back on a tree, most likely trying (and failing) to give some advice to Kumiko. From Reina's perspective, the tree tilted backwards at Natsuki's touch, causing a rumbling sound to be heard from beneath their feet after a 'click'.

As the party of four watched on, a mound of earth slowly rose up in front of them. When the dust settled, it eventually revealed itself to be a passageway that led deep underground, with strange luminous rocks illuminating the interior and glyphs resembling musical notes carved on the exterior.

"The aesthetics of this tunnel are quite similar to the Great Stave Maze close by." Reina noted. "Even though the majority of the maze has already been mapped out, there are still some undiscovered portions that lead further out. I think we may have accidentally made an archaeological discovery."

"Well, I'm no geography expert like you are," Natsuki chimed in. "But I do know one thing about all this: Where there's ancient ruins, there's definitely treasure waiting to be found. What do you say we go on an adventure?"

"Are you crazy?" Yuuko yelled. "What if we get lost, trapped inside, or worse? I know that the main section of the maze is a tourist attraction, but this section only just got unearthed by your clumsy ass not even five minutes ago? How will we escape if we get stuck?"

"Relax, princess. We all have Psychic-type Pokémon who can Teleport with us, so if we ever get lost or are in mortal danger, we can get out safely, and they can use a psychic link to keep track of each other, so we know where we all are anytime." With her reply finished, Natsuki dragged Yuuko by the back of her shirt into the depths of the maze, with Kumiko and Reina following to look after their friends.

* * *

After walking for a while in a straight line, the group reached a crossroads in the maze, which branched out in four directions in front of them.

"Alright, here's the plan." Natsuki explained. "Each of us picks a path using rock-paper-scissors, and goes through it as far as possible until they reach a dead end or see the light of day again. If something happens or all possible paths are dead ends, Teleport to someone else, then repeat over and over again till we get out or die horrible deaths."

"Coming from you, that sounds like a rational and well-thought out plan, Natsuki." Yuuko commended. "How did that emerge from someone as unorganized as you are?"

"Oh, nothing much." Natsuki replied. "It's just the strategy I use when I go shopping at a supermarket."

An angry rant from Yuuko about Natsuki's mental deficiencies and several games of rock-paper-scissors later, Kumiko was saddled with exploring the leftmost passage way. Despite the light that the strange stones gave off, Kumiko still felt uncomfortable in such a foreign and claustrophobic environment.

Feeling thankful that she at least had packed a flashlight in her bag, Kumiko switched it on and continued forward, seeing as there were no deviations in her route. Descending down several flights of stairs, seeing the same patterns repeating on the walls got boring after a certain period of time.

Upon reaching a large clearing that was particularly dark, Kumiko was disappointed to find out that it was a dead end. Sighing, she was about to send out Orpheus and ask him to Teleport them to Reina when she heard the sound of gears shifting behind the walls.

Looking up, Kumiko saw that a small section of the ceiling had opened up, with someone rapidly plummeting down from the relatively tall passageway. Reaching for Orpheus' Pokéball, she sent him out and ordered him to slow down the person's fall.

When the person reached ground level, Orpheus had already slowed the falling person down to a halt, rotating them around so that Kumiko could see who she had rescued, though she wished she hadn't when the rotation was completed.

"Hi, Kumiko," Shuichi Tsukamoto awkwardly waved. "I guess we have a lot to catch on, huh?"


	14. Chapter 14: Amazing Grace - Part 2

"Geh." was the first noise that came out of Kumiko's mouth upon seeing Shuichi. "How did you end up here? Answer quickly or I'll ask my Pokémon to fling you back up and drop you down."

"Look, it's not my fault, OK?" Shuichi pleaded. "I was just minding business taking selfies at the maze ruins above, when I accidentally leaned on a wall tile that triggered something that dropped me down from where I was standing. Please, let me go!"

"Fine. Orpheus, release him." Kumiko commanded, and Orpheus released his psychic grip on Shuichi, leaving him to collapse to the floor under the power of gravity. Scrambling to pick himself back up from the ground, Shuichi immediately pointed his finger at Kumiko right after he managed to stand again.

"Kumiko, I challenge you to a Pokémon battle right here, right now!" Shuichi's hot-blooded enthusiasm rang through the chamber, but the only other person present was not amused with his antics.

Kumiko sighed. "Any additional rules, genius?" she deadpanned. "Last time we battled, it was when we just got our first Pokémon, and I'd hate to battle you with a numerical advantage if you still only have one Pokémon."

"Heh. It seems that you're not the only one who's got two Pokémon on hand." Shuichi tried to smirk, but what came out was a mangled grin. "In fact, two can play at that game!" The pitiful attempt at a lame pun only seemed to make the dead air in the room get even more stale.

"OK then." Kumiko matter-of-factly stated. "So we'll each use two Pokémon, and the first person to have both their Pokémon knocked out loses. Sounds fair?"

"Yeah, that's alright with me. Let's get this show on the road!" Shuichi declared, going over to the other side of the chamber while preparing his Pokéballs. "Batty, I choose you!"

Shuichi threw out one of his Pokéballs, and a Zubat emerged from it, flapping its wings as it used its sense of echolocation to analyze its surroundings. Noting his choice of Pokémon and its nickname, Kumiko was sure that this poor Zubat was another victim of Shuichi's horrible naming skills.

"Out of all the Pokémon you could've caught, your second Pokémon was a Zubat?" Kumiko questioned, causing Shuichi to become overly defensive. "Aren't they usually used by thugs and criminals since they're so weak and plentiful?"

"Hey, Zubat are cool Pokémon." Shuichi hastily responded. "And they're not weak. If a Trainer cares for it long enough after it evolves into a Golbat, it can evolve into a Crobat, which is one of the most badass Pokémon to exist! You can't argue with that, right?"

"True. Sorry if I offended you, Zubat." Kumiko apologized to Shuichi's Zubat, causing it to reply in a series of clicks. "But now it's time for my second capture to shine. Orpheus, don't look back!"

As Orpheus sprang out of his Pokéball, he turned to look his opponent in the eye to the best of his ability, which was challenging considering that Zubat did not have any. Adjusting himself, he waited for his Trainer to give her orders. However, Shuichi was the one that moved first.

"Batty, use Supersonic!" he ordered, and the Bat Pokémon emitted a high-pitched sound wave from its mouth which headed directly towards Orpheus.

"Dodge it with Teleport, then use Confusion!" Kumiko responded, and Orpheus dutifully obeyed, warping away just before the move connected, then reappeared just above Batty and fired off his own attack before Teleporting back to the ground.

The Psychic blast sent Batty downwards towards the floor, where Orpheus was charging up another Psychic attack. Once his target crash-landed, Orpheus released all the energy that he had been storing up, and fired a much more devastating Confusion.

Once the battlefield became visible again, both sides could see that Batty was in no condition to battle. As Shuichi recalled his Pokémon back into its Pokéball, he just began to realize how much his friend had improved over such a short period of time. Not only had Kumiko able to effectively outmaneuver him throughout the battle, but she was able to decisively defeat him with little effort.

However, that was just his first Pokémon that got knocked out. Maybe the second battle would end differently. Reaching for his other Pokéball, Shuichi threw it out with reckless abandon. "Go, Freddy!"

Instead of the cute little Froakie that Kumiko had seen last time, Freddy had evolved into a much more gangly Frogadier that was currently crouching on the floor. Not wanting Orpheus to ring himself ragged through two unimportant battles back-to-back, Kumiko made the decision to recall him, swapping his Pokéball with the other she had on hand and throwing it out. "Marcato, play on!"

With a flash, her starter Pokémon emerged, doing a midair twirl before settling on the ground and facing Freddy. Hopping in place, Marcato was overjoyed to see the Frogadier again, but kept his feelings of happiness in check as he realized that it was a battle between the both of them. With both Pokémon settled on the battlefield, Shuichi took the lead again. "Freddy, use Bounce!"

The Bubble Frog Pokémon crouched down even more, and with a leaping motion Freddy took to the skies. Or at least, tried to. Upon leaping up, Freddy bumped into the chamber's ceiling, sending him straight back to the ground just as quickly as he went up.

Thankfully, Freddy managed to land on his feet when he touched the floor, straightening himself before turning back to face Marcato. Facepalming at Shuichi's utter lack of foresight or planning, Kumiko waiting for the sting of her palm hitting her face to wear off before giving her order. "Marcato, Wood Hammer!"

Marcato rushed forward with one of his arms glowing green, ready to strike down Freddy with one super-effective blow. However, Shuichi managed to react at the last moment with his own move. "Freddy, use Cut to block the blow!"

A short blade of energy sprung out from Freddy's right hand, and he used it to create a short distance between himself and Marcato's incoming attack. Even with such as weak a move as Cut, it was still a usable defense against the powerful Grass-type move.

Freddy pushed back hard, and managed to knock back Marcato into the air, but the Cactus Pokémon did a backflip before landing, using the momentum to absorb some of the excess energy.

Seeing that her current strategy did not work as planned, Kumiko decided to rely on Marcato's next most powerful move. "Use Mega Drain!"

A wave of green tendrils shot out from Marcato's body, waving their way towards Freddy. Undeterred by this approaching assault, Shuichi kept his cool for once and made a rational decision. "Freddy, use Cut to slash away at the attack!"

This time, Freddy manifested blades in both of his hands, and used them to cut away at the Mega Drain tendrils. However, the sheer volume heading towards him was too much to handle, and even though he managed to slash away at some, he was eventually overwhelmed by the attack.

Getting caught up in the tendrils, Freddy could feel his energy slowly being drained away by Marcato, leaving him helpless in their grasp. While his Cut blades were still active in his hands, he couldn't use them to slice away the thick mass of tendrils wrapping around him.

Eventually, Marcato's attack stopped, and Freddy was let go, collapsing down onto the ground. Refusing to be defeated so easily, he picked himself off the ground and for his Trainer to give him the signal to attack.

"Freddy, use Bounce towards Maractus!" Shuichi ordered. Contracting his legs, Freddy leapt at Marcato, ready to face him directly and return the damage he had previously done twofold.

Until Marcato met his head-on assault with a Wood Hammer directly to the face, courtesy of Kumiko's orders.

Freddy was sent flying back in the direction he came from, narrowly missing Shuichi while doing so, eventually crashing into a wall. After the loud impact resulted in a deafening sound, Kumiko, Marcato, and Shuichi ran (or in Marcato's case, hopped) over to see what had happened to Freddy.

Peering into the frog-shaped hole in the wall that Freddy had made, the group discovered that not only was Freddy knocked out, but Marcato's attack had hit so hard that it had hit Freddy into a newly-revealed passageway that had stairs going up. Recalling his fainted Pokémon, Shuichi was slightly relieved. "Well, at least we found a way out of here."

* * *

Heading up the stairs, Shuichi revealed that he had brought several Revives and Potions along with him, and had healed up his and Kumiko's Pokémon along the way. With nothing much to do otherwise, Kumiko found herself (mostly unwillingly) having a conversation with Shuichi.

"Man, I can't believe that my team got beat by your Pokémon so easily." Shuichi commented. "What did you do to your Pokémon to make them that strong, Kumiko? Give them Rare Candies? Do some Super Training with them?"

"It's not that I'm good, Shuichi." Kumiko replied, seemingly annoyed at Shuichi's not-so-subtle flattery. "It's just that your foresight is so bad that even a Staryu could see through whatever little planning and strategizing you do, and they don't even have eyes!"

"Ouch. That insult hurt, Kumiko." a humiliated Shuichi rubbed his shoulder in mock pain. "By the way, how many Badges have you gotten since I last saw you?"

"Uh, two." Kumiko recalled. "My first badge was from the Onic City Gym, and the second from the Perto City Gym. I'm now heading to Edian City with some friends of mine, where there's a Gym."

"Oh, same here!" Shuichi excitedly remarked. "I even got them from the same Gyms in the same order as you. Speaking of which, didn't the Gym Leader in Perto City have a Masquerain? How did you deal with that?"

"Well, I fainted the first time around, but then a friend helped me cope with my past trauma, and I was able to defeat it in a rematch a day later." Kumiko answered. "And if you make any remarks about that incident ever again, I'll ask my Ralts to Teleport you up into the air and leave you there. You heard me?"

Shuichi could only nod in fear as he remembered that he was the one responsible for Kumiko's phobia of Bug-types, not wanting to anger his friend further. As they walked further upwards on the long staircase, Kumiko could see some light ahead that didn't match the color of the luminous stones illuminating the cave's interior.

"I think we're near the surface again." Kumiko observed. "The light shining towards us seems to be sunlight, so we should be able to find a way out from that exit."

"Yeah, good idea." Shuichi agreed. "After being in the deep, dark depths of this maze for so long, I can't wait to taste the heady feeling of the good old surface world again!"

"Uh, you've only been stuck there for like a half hour max, maybe an hour for me," Kumiko replied. "So I don't see why you're getting so hyped up about returning to the surface back again. You weren't stuck underground for long at all."

"I don't care. I'm getting the heebie-jeebies the longer I remain below ground." Shuichi defiantly spoke. As the first rays of sunlight washed over his face, he beamed back at them. "Ahh, natural sunlight! How I've missed you, my old friend!"

Embarrassed by how bizarre her friend's antics were, Kumiko decided to hurry up on ahead and ran past Shuichi, who was still self-absorbed in his strange praise of the sun. Unfortunately, she was a slow runner, and by the time that Shuichi realized that Kumiko had ditched him, he was able to catch up to her with little effort.

Panting and out of breath, Kumiko gave up on running away from him, choosing to make him wait for her instead.

"Will you stop doing that?" Kumiko gasped between breaths. "Those weird actions get on my nerves so much! It's a miracle that no one else was present, or you would've been arrested for indecent behaviour!"

"Sorry. I just couldn't help." Shuichi tried to apologize, but Kumiko wasn't buying it. "My eyes are now having trouble adjusting to the sunlight after being stuck down there for so long, so coming back up after some time underground is something that I don't like to do."

"Well guess what, genius?" Kumiko was getting ticked. "My eyes are also stinging from the change in brightness too! Quit complaining to me and deal with it yourself! You're not the only one with this problem, you know?" Storming off ahead, all Shuichi could do was follow her like a hapless dog.

As he trailed her through the maze, Shuichi kept his distance with Kumiko, not wanting to get closer on pain of death, but he still kept a watchful eye on her.

"Wait, do you even know where we are?" Shuichi called on up ahead, hoping that Kumiko would care enough about him to give him an answer, though he expected none. While he could receive a signal on his phone, the GPS function was not working for some reason, leaving him stuck with a tourist map of the maze that was useless in this situation. Maybe it was the massive walls that surrounded them which were jamming satellite transmissions.

Turning around a bend, the separated duo continued navigating the path they were on, hoping to find a way out sooner or later. After a short period of time, they could see a wide opening up ahead, but when they reached the end, what awaited them wasn't the maze's exit.

The path Kumiko and Shuichi had gone through opened up into a massive semicircular amphitheater, with long curved pews carved out of stone surrounding the main stage. Behind the stage, a faded mural depicting an unknown Pokémon surrounded by the same glyphs found on the walls of the maze was present, while a strange apparatus resting on a raised lectern was situated in front of it.

While Kumiko couldn't identify the Pokémon in the mural due to being far away, she felt an affinity to it for some strange reason.

Walking closer to the front, the pair started to notice that something was off about this place. Upon closer observation, they could see wires poking out of the strange apparatus and what looked like to be large cameras circling around the entire stage, all hooked up to a laptop with two people manning the assorted equipment.

What Kumiko found most intriguing was that the two people in front of her were dressed exactly like the 'roadies' Reina and her confronted back in Dacap Town, down to the shirts with an identical band logo, with the only exception being the headphones around their necks. One of them looked at Kumiko and Shuichi, and tapped the other on the shoulder, alerting him to their presence.

Rushing towards them, they each drew a Pokéball, throwing them out to reveal two Alolan Graveler, who immediately began rolling at a high speed towards Kumiko and Shuichi. Seeing no other option, the two teenagers grabbed their own Pokéballs and sent out Freddy and Marcato, who blocked the attacks with Cut and Wood Hammer respectively. Sending their opponents flying back, Kumiko and Shuichi got closer to the roadies and ordered their Pokémon to attack.

"Marcato, use Wood Hammer again!" Kumiko commanded.

"Freddy, use Water Pulse!" Shuichi called out.

As Marcato rushed forward, Freddy charged up a sphere of water and fired it in the direction of a Graveler. Unfortunately, Marcato was also targeting that Graveler as well, so Freddy's attack hit him square in the face.

With Marcato reeling from the accidental burst of friendly fire, both Graveler surrounded their bodies with electricity and blasted out two Shock Waves simultaneously, catching both Freddy and Marcato off guard.

Angry at how Shuichi managed to mess everything up, Kumiko complained to him. "Look! Because of your lack of tactical planning, your Pokémon's attack somehow managed to hit Marcato instead of the Graveler! If that Wood Hammer had connected, it would have done a lot of damage!"

"Well, I'm sorry about that." Shuichi tried to make a sincere apology, but it ended up sounding half-assed in the heat of battle. "It's not that I can read your mind or anything, so I wouldn't know which Graveler you were aiming for."

"Geh. Screw it!" Kumiko replied. "Focus on the battle! Marcato, Mega Drain!"

"Freddy, use Cut this time!" Shuichi followed up.

As Freddy dashed towards his opponent, Marcato shot out tendrils of green light, which headed for the nearest Graveler. By a stroke of bad luck, the one he was aiming for rolled away in the nick of time, leaving them headed towards the next closest target: Freddy.

Just as Freddy was about to unleash a series of slices on his opponent, Marcato's tendrils wrapped around him, ensnaring Freddy in their draining green glow. As Freddy's strength was sapped by his teammate, it was Shuichi who was furious this time around.

"Now whose fault is it that our Pokémon are attacking each other?" Shuichi ranted. "And don't try to pin the blame on me this time. Tell your Maractus to focus his move better next time!"

"Hey! It's not my fault that the Pokémon Marcato was targeting dodged at the last second!" Kumiko spat back. "It just so happened that your Frogadier was close by, so the Mega Drain automatically homed in on him!"

This bickering continued on for several minutes, all while Freddy and Marcato were constantly dodging the Graveler's repeated attacks, waiting for their Trainers to give their next orders. Seeing as they were locked in an argument over who was to blame here, both Pokémon just sighed at the scene, hoping that they could resolve their dispute in time to turn the tide of battle.

Much to their dismay, this did not seem to be a possibility, as Kumiko and Shuichi were at each other's throats almost literally, pushing and shoving each other away. Now that this had been going on for a while, both Freddy and Marcato were starting to get exhausted from continuously dodging, and they were starting to get hit by the Graveler's moves.

Just as Kumiko was about to pounce on Shuichi for being a disgrace to all trombonists by simply existing (how their fight got to that point was a mystery), someone appeared behind Kumiko and tried to restrain her, seeming breaking apart the fight single-handedly. Kumiko turned to look at her captor, and was both relieved and surprised to see Reina's familiar face stare back at her.

"Reina, what are you doing here?" Kumiko asked, confused as to why Reina would suddenly be by her side. Did something almost happen to her?

"Eurydice sensed from Orpheus that you were feeling distress, so she Teleported me here to help you out." Reina answered, then turned to look at Shuichi. "Is he the one you were fighting with?"

"Uh, yeah. Those two roadies over there picked a fight with us, then Shuichi and I had no choice but to engage them in a Double Battle. The problem was that his Pokémon kept getting in the way of my attacks, preventing us from dealing any damage to their Pokémon, so I got into an argument with him." Kumiko explained.

Reina recalled that Kumiko had talked about how 'Shuichi' was partly responsible for her fear of Bug-type Pokémon. Scanning the area, she could see Kumiko's Maractus and a Frogadier trying to dodge the attacks of two Alolan Graveler, but they seemed exhausted from doing so.

Making a split-second decision, she released Kumiko from her embrace, went over to Shuichi and pushed him to the floor, picking up Freddy's Pokéball in the process and recalling him.

"Don't ever torment Kumiko again, or else." Reina's voice rang in Shuichi's ears with no hint of any warmth, throwing Freddy's Pokéball back to him. "Now, it's time to show you how strong she is without you in her way."

Shuichi immediately scampered back at Reina's mere presence. If he remembered correctly, the black-haired girl standing in front of him was the prodigal trumpet player "Snow Queen" Kousaka from his middle school's concert band, but she didn't seem to even recognize him at all.

Taking her place by Kumiko's side, Reina's icy facade melted again. "Sorry about that, Kumiko." she sweetly apologized. "Can I join in your battle?"

"Sure! I could always use your help!" Kumiko energetically replied. "Marcato, come back here!"

Marcato hopped back to Kumiko's side, leading the two Alolan Graveler with him as well. Reina readied one of her Pokéballs and sent out Idina, the Snow Land Pokémon floating down to the ground.

Reina readied her hard light trumpet and pressed it against her lips, playing her variant of Danse Macabre that had double the notes. Idina immediately produced two Shadow Balls, and hurled them towards the charging Graveler. While one of them hit its mark, the other Graveler managed to dodge the incoming attack.

Seeing the situation, Kumiko instinctively knew what to do about the missed attack. "Marcato, use Wood Hammer to knock that stray Shadow Ball towards Graveler!"

Marcato's right arm began glowing green, and he leapt over to the waning Ghost-type attack. Swinging his arm at it, his arm became cloaked in dark purple energy from the Shadow Ball bursting.

With another jump, he somersaulted upwards and hit the other Graveler right on the head, the power of both attacks combined managing to temporarily subdue it. Hopping back to Idina's side, Marcato waited for his Trainer's next orders, watching as both of the Graveler struggled to recover.

"Use Mega Drain to recover some health!" Kumiko commanded. To complement her partner, Reina played Vivaldi's Winter on her trumpet, with Idina's Ice Beam freezing a Graveler in place, then Marcato's tendrils of green light wrapping around it, absorbing all of its health in one swift strike.

As one of the roadies whipped out a Pokéball to recall his Graveler, the other one was slightly agitated. "Go and man the equipment! I'll buy you some time and delay those pesky twerps here! We have to scan the entire thing and finish the mission no matter what!"

"Roger that!" the other one echoed, flashing a rock gesture. "We can't fail here! We have to make HTT the best band in the world, and the Messa di Voce will bring them closer to that goal! Let's rock!"

Now that only one Graveler was still conscious, Kumiko and Reina now had a single point to focus their damage on, rather than split their effort between two Pokémon. Smiling at each other, they gave their Pokémon one final set of orders.

"Marcato, use Wood Hammer!" Kumiko called out, while Reina played Winter on her trumpet again. As Marcato's right arm glowed green, Idina coated it with ice, making it look more like a spiked mace than a hammer as it increased in size.

Jumping towards the remaining Graveler, Marcato sprang up above it as Idina encircled it with a ring of ice, limiting its movement. As soon as he reached the apex, Marcato used the weight on his right arm to steer his fall, eventually swinging it onto the Graveler's head with a crash, causing ice shards to splinter everywhere.

As the last crystals of ice fell to the ground, Kumiko and Reina could see that their combination attack had proven to be successful, knocking out the other Graveler with ease. High-fiving each other, Kumiko and Reina celebrated their victory, while the roadie recalled his Pokémon with a sigh as he ran over to his teammate, who was frantically packing up the assorted equipment lying around.

As Kumiko and Reina winded down their small-scale festivities, they could see that just as the last of the apparatus was packed up, one of the roadies sent out an Abra, whose body began to glow blue as Psychic energy coalesced around it.

"Oh no you don't!" A voice from behind them cried out as Shuichi ran over and caught onto one of the roadie's legs a split second before they Teleported away, leaving Kumiko and Reina all alone in the clearing as Shuichi was warped away with the roadies.

"That was a bit weird." Reina noted, walking closer to the main stage as Kumiko followed right behind her.

"Shuichi? Yeah, he's like that some of the time." Kumiko commented. "Well, most of the time, but you get what I mean, right?"

"No, not him." Reina looked around the amphitheater. "I meant the entire circumstances surrounding that battle. While I might guess that the people we were battling against were archaeologists analyzing the ruins based on their equipment, why were they so keen to attack us? Were they hiding something?"

"Maybe." Kumiko responded. "And they were dressed like the people we confronted back in Dacap Town, right down to the band shirts with the same logo on them. They also mentioned the same name: HTT. Do you know if that's a band name or something? Would at least explain their appearance."

"Possibly, though I don't really listen to rock or pop music that much." Reina answered her. "What's most intriguing is that they mentioned the apparatus in front of us is called the Messa di Voce. In operatic singing, it refers to a technique where the singer controls the pitch of a voice as they increase and decrease the volume, which is particularly hard to do. What does that have to do with all this?"

"Well, I obviously have just as much idea as you, which is to say none." Kumiko replied. Her gaze drifting over to the mural behind them, she suddenly realized why she found it strangely familiar when she first saw it upon entering the maze. Gesturing to Reina, the normally cool and calm trumpeter was also shocked when she saw what Pokémon was being depicted.

There was no mistaking the signature green hair of Meloetta, with its mouth open as strange symbols poured out from it into the ears of the surrounding people.

* * *

"Hey Natsuki, did you feel like we forgot something?" Yuuko asked her travelling companion, who was currently strolling with her towards the main exit of the maze.

"Nah, doesn't feel like it." Natsuki replied. "I mean, it was sort of a lucky break that we somehow managed to meet each other in the middle and walk out together. Talk about a coincidence!"

"Yeah, and it was also a misfortune for some of us." Yuuko added. "...I can't believe we did that down there."

"Well no talking about it anymore, princess. What's in the past is in the past." Natsuki told Yuuko off with a slight blush on her face. "Imagine what our friends would think of us if they knew?"

A look of horror dawned on Natsuki's face as she realized the implications of what she just said. "Oh, shit! We forgot to pick Kumiko and Kousaka up! They must've gotten lost or something!"

As Yuuko and Natsuki grabbed Heart and Soul's Pokéballs and sent them out, an invisible Meloetta observed them from a distance, sitting on top of the maze's walls. Though their bond was more rough around the edges than Oumae and Kousaka's, Nakagawa and Yoshikawa's bond could be honed to become one that was just as strong over time.

Meloetta couldn't wait for that day.


	15. Chapter 15: Home on the Range

Teleporting Kumiko and Reina to the maze's exit after picking them up, Natsuki and Yuuko were internally facepalming at their blunder of forgetting about their friends. They had gotten so wrapped up in their own affairs (in more ways than one) that they almost ditched their friends in the middle of a gigantic labyrinth.

"Sorry about that, Kumiko." Natsuki apologized. "Me and Yuuko found each other after we went back up to the surface, and we were chatting away for so long that we forgot about you two when we reached the exit."

"That's OK," Kumiko replied. "Reina and I were perfectly fine, and we could've Teleported to you two if we couldn't find the way out by ourselves."

"Well, it's almost sundown." Yuuko interjected. "We didn't want you trapped all alone in the maze at night. Who knows what might lurk there?"

"All right, all right." Natsuki clapped her hands, getting the group's attention. "Since it's starting to get late, how about we camp near the exit for the night, since even the nearest cities are still a while from here?"

"I just said that staying here might be a bad idea, but I'm still open to it." Yuuko continued. "As long as we stick together, nothing bad should happen, and our Pokémon should be able to defend us if an emergency happened. There's safety in numbers, right?"

"I agree, though I checked the weather report before you Teleported us her, and it said that there's a high chance of rain tonight. How about we camp in one of the maze's underground sections?" Reina suggested. "There's a part not far from here."

"Heh. Good idea, Kousaka." Natsuki replied. "Guess Kumiko made a wise decision to be your friend. If she didn't, I swear I would've needed to bail her out of something much earlier."

"Don't underestimate your friend like that." Reina sounded miffed that Natsuki had the audacity to easily look down on their mutual acquaintance. "Kumiko's much more capable than you realize, and even I'm shocked at how much she's improved."

"Fine. Geez, I was just joking around." Natsuki retorted. "Why so serious?"

"I'm always serious." Reina said with a straight face.

"Except when I see you." Kumiko thought, clenching her teeth to make sure that she didn't say that out loud. She didn't want to break Reina's facade in front of her friends, even though it often melted on its own far too easily.

* * *

Settling into the nearest underground section of the maze once the sun went down, Yuuko enlisted Kumiko to help her cook yet again. Even under the dim glow of the luminous stones that dotted the tunnel, it was still too dark to properly see, and since nobody wanted the chefs tonight to lose a finger while chopping ingredients, Natsuki took out a camping lantern from her bag and switched it on, the yellow glow filling up the passageway with a bright light.

"Thanks a lot, but you know that I was planning to take my own one out, right?" Yuuko grumbled. "No need to be so kind towards me, OK? Just sit back and wait for your food. Hell, talk with Kousaka if you're really bored. Ever since we came down here, she's been training with her Pokémon nonstop."

"You know what they say," Natsuki replied. "Do unto others as others do unto you, so if I ever need help in the future, I can count on you to have my back. That's how karma works, right?"

"Oh, so you helped me just because you're selfish? How kind of you to do that." Yuuko's voice dripped with sarcasm. As the conversation between her and Natsuki started to boil down into a slugfest of words between them, Kumiko could notice that not only did Yuuko's actions not slow down or drop in efficiency, she was working more quickly and accurately than before. At one point, Kumiko was convinced that Yuuko's rage was making the gas stove burn hotter.

Once Kumiko and Yuuko finished preparing the food sooner than expected, Kumiko went over to where Reina was training to call her over for dinner. As Kumiko walked farther down the passage, she could see that the surrounding walls were drenched with water.

In front of her, Kumiko saw Reina with Idina and Eurydice, ordering them to use moves that Kumiko hadn't seen before. Going over to Reina, Kumiko was curious as to what they were, but remembered what she was here for first and foremost.

"Reina, it's time for dinner!" Kumiko called out.

"OK, I'm coming!" Recalling Idina and Eurydice, Reina went over to Kumiko, and the pair began walking back to their makeshift 'campsite'. As there was still some time before they arrived, Kumiko realized that this would be a good time to ask Reina about what she was doing back there.

"Hey, Reina." Kumiko got her friend's attention. "What moves were you practicing with Idina and Eurydice? I haven't really seen you use them before?"

"I was trying to teach Idina to use Water Pulse by ordering her to wait for the ice to melt in her normal Ice Beam before firing out." Reina explained. "As for Eurydice, I wanted her to learn Fire Punch so that she could have a counter against Steel-types, though she hasn't had any luck managing to heat up her attacks yet."

Kumiko was surprised at this reveal. "Wait, Froslass and Ralts can learn those moves?" she exclaimed, then remembered Eurydice using Shadow Ball during Reina's battle against the Perto City Gym Leader. "How did you teach them? TMs?"

"No. I searched up videos on how Move Tutors taught Pokémon to use moves, then tried to use those techniques to teach Idina and Eurydice, with varying degrees of success." Reina answered. "However, there seems to be a limit on the number and variety of moves a Pokémon can learn, and people have compiled lists online, so I'd suggest consulting them before trying yourself."

"Of course," Reina continued. "I could always offer some… private lessons for you and your Pokémon, since it takes time to do what professional Move Tutors do."

"Thanks a lot, Reina!" Kumiko said in gratitude, missing what Reina was trying to imply there. "I could always use your help!"

"No problem. I'm always available, remember?" Reina replied.

"Hey, lovebirds!" Natsuki's voice rang out in the dim light. "Get you asses back here! Dinner's getting cold, you know?"

Running back to where Natsuki and Yuuko were sitting with a blush on their faces, Kumiko and Reina dug into their meals with semi-exaggerated enthusiasm, partly to mask their feelings, but mostly because they were tired after their battle against the roadies earlier today.

Once they were finished, Reina asked Idina to help clean their dirty plates and cooking equipment with Water Pulse, and her starter Pokémon used her newly-mastered move to help do the dishes. After all was said and done, the group realized that it was still quite early into the night, so they decided to have a lively chat around the light of Natsuki's camping lamp.

As the minutes went by, the conversation shifted from one topic to another, the group chatting eagerly about everything under the moon (since the sun was already down). Eventually, Kumiko decided to ask a question in the midst of a heated debate about the airspeed velocity of an unladen Swellow.

"Even though I've heard Natsuki talk about Yuuko a lot before, how did you two get to know each other?" Kumiko asked Natsuki and Yuuko, wanting to learn more about how this unlikely duo of friends came to be.

"Well, it all started in middle school, which we attended together." Yuuko began. "I was in the concert band, while Natsuki joined the light music club and played guitar there. We met in our third year because of a mutual friend, who was also serving as the president of the concert band back then, and quickly became friends."

"Shortly after we graduated, Yuuko pranked me with help from the aforementioned band president." Natsuki continued. "I once jokingly dared Yuuko to make me respect wind ensemble music, since I thought that rock bands were cooler than concert bands back then, so she signed me up for two euphonium camps since it was such an obscure instrument that a rockhead like me would have absolutely no knowledge of."

Natsuki carried on. "At the first camp, there was a special instructor who lead the course: current Elite Four member Asuka Tanaka, though she was still an up-and-coming Trainer with a prodigious amount of skill on the euph back then."

"Wait, what?" Kumiko interjected. "Asuka? I just met her yesterday!"

"She approached us right after Kumiko obtained her second Gym Badge to test the Gym Leader's skills." Reina clarified. "But before that, she noticed how Kumiko managed to win her Gym battle even though both of her Pokémon were at a type disadvantage. After learning that her starter Pokémon was a Grass-type and that she played the euphonium as well, she immediately started to affectionately consider Kumiko as her disciple."

"...not that I'm embarrassed about it or anything." Kumiko added. "But yeah, that's about it. Asuka may be a bit eccentric at times, but she's actually very strong in battle! She managed to defeat six of the Gym leader's strongest Pokémon with only one of her own, and that was at a type disadvantage!"

"Great to see that you had such a positive first impression of her." Natsuki switched the conversation back on track. "During my time with Tanaka, she managed to teach me a lot and made me enjoy it, but rubbed me the wrong way at times. At the end of the course, she saw that I had potential, and made me an offer to study under her in both battling and the euphonium. I refused, saying that my friend only signed me up as a joke."

Kumiko was shocked at her friend's boldness. "You… turned down a future Elite Four member? What happened after that?"

"Nothing. She just laughed, told me that the offer was still on the table, and wished me good luck on my journey. On the next euph course, I met you." she concluded. "How about you, kid? How'd you meet Kousaka?"

"We attended the same middle school together, and were both in concert band. Towards the end of our third year, we started to get familiar with each other, but got separated after graduation until we met each other a while later at Dacap Town." Kumiko answered.

"Oh, it's that simple?" Natsuki asked. "And I'd have thought that she saved you from an alien invasion or something, all things considered." Stretching her arms up in the air and yawning, Natsuki slumped back down as everyone else realized that her narcolepsy had taken hold once again. After considering the time, they decided not to wake her up, but went to sleep along with her instead.

* * *

When Kumiko woke up the next day, she noticed that something was amiss.

Even though she had placed her sleeping bag next to Reina's, the two other sleeping bags that were supposed to be beside her were nowhere to be seen.

Waking up Reina, the two girls frantically searched along the passageway for Yuuko and Natsuki. Not seeing them anywhere, Kumiko and Reina tried to call and message them, but they didn't get any replies on both fronts.

With everything else failing to work, they sent out Orpheus and Eurydice to try and locate them using their Pokémon's psychic signals, but they couldn't sense anything after trying for several minutes..

"Well, I guess they must have Teleported somewhere far away." Kumiko reasoned. "That's the only reason why Orpheus or Eurydice couldn't find them at all."

With the search for their friends proving futile, Kumiko and Reina packed up their belongings and exited the maze, continuing forward towards their next destination.

* * *

A short distance away, Natsuki and Yuuko were running like the wind and sniggering childishly.

"Hah! I can't believe covering your Pokéballs with tinfoil actually works!" Natsuki exclaimed. "Now Kumiko and Kousaka can't find us at all!"

"Yeah, 'cause Steel resists Psychic and all that." Yuuko added. "Do you think ditching them so suddenly like that was a bad move?"

"Nah. They'll manage on their own." Natsuki answered. "As long as Kousaka sticks with Kumiko, they'll both be fine. Have some faith in them."

Planting a kiss on Natsuki's cheek, Yuuko beamed at her. "That's what I like most about you: your ability to always believe in your friends. Now, let's get going."

Sending out their Meowstic, Natsuki and Yuuko Teleported away to parts unknown, ready to face the world together once again.

* * *

Unaware of the wool that Natsuki and Yuuko pulled over their eyes, Kumiko and Reina pressed on along the beaten path, not wanting to get tangled in yet another unexpected scenario from straying off it, and hoping to make it to Edian City before sunset. As they walked along, Reina could feel something moving around in her bag.

Reina rummaged around it for a while before setting her bag on the floor, and pulled out the incubator containing the Egg that Ririka had given her two days prior. The Egg was moving erratically, almost as if what was inside was about to burst out.

As if by instinct, Kumiko checked her own Egg for any signs of movement, and was dismayed when she realized that it was just as still as the day she received it on.

Pressing down on the top, Reina took her Egg out of the incubator, noting how it was gently pulsulating in her arms. Cradling it, she set the Egg on the ground, where it lay silently as Kumiko bent down to watch.

"It's going to hatch very soon." Reina noted, watching her Egg intently. "I wonder what Pokémon it's going to be?"

As the Egg started to pulse and move more rapidly, it started to glow faintly as well. After a short while, a bright light emanated from it, illuminating the area with a flash of white light that prevented Kumiko and Reina from seeing what was going on.

When the light subsided, what appeared in place of the Egg was an Alolan Vulpix, its pristine snow-white shining under the sun, and its ice-blue eyes looking up expectantly at Reina, who was looking back at her newest Pokémon.

"Hello," Reina introduced herself, stretching her palm out. "I'm Reina, your new Trainer. Let's be special together, alright?"

"Vul!" the Alolan Vulpix barked happily, putting its paw on Reina's outstretched arm. As it did so, a chilly wind started to whip up around it, resulting in a powerful Blizzard covering the surrounding area with snow.

Running her fingers through her hair to comb the snow off, Reina laughed at her Pokémon's overly-enthusiastic reaction. "That was quite a strong move you've got there. Let's see what else you know."

Taking out her Pokédex, Reina scanned her Vulpix, who scratched its body with its hind leg. "Vulpix, the Fox Pokémon." the Pokédex droned. "In hot weather, this Pokémon makes ice shards with its six tails and sprays them around to cool itself off. This Vulpix is femate, has the ability Snow Warning, and knows the moves Freeze-Dry, Moonblast, Blizzard, and Powder Snow."

"Wow, you've got a lot of powerful moves there." Reina commented. "And a rather unusual ability. Now, all that's left is to think of a nickname for you." Hearing her Trainer's compliments, Vulpix yapped happily, prompting Reina to pet her on the head as she considered different options for what to name her newest Pokémon.

"Aurora?" she pondered, but that seemed too conventional, and Vulpix seemed to agree based on her lackluster reaction. "Blanche? Elsa?" Still no signs of approval from Vulpix.

Hearing Reina having trouble was disheartening for Kumiko. For as long as she knew Reina, Kumiko saw her as a prodigy, someone who could succeed at anything she tried her hand at. For her to be challenged by something as simple as nicknaming her Pokémon, Kumiko could only imagine the emotional distress that Reina was going through.

Going over to where Reina was sitting with her Vulpix, Kumiko sat down next to her. "Do you need any help with nicknaming your Vulpix, Reina?" she asked.

"Yeah, I'm actually kind of stuck here." Reina admitted. For Kumiko, seeing this display of candor from someone as infallible as Reina was as surprising. She'd have thought that Reina would be too stubborn to admit her troubles.

Thinking back to the names that Reina had previously mentioned, the gears in Kumiko's brain began to turn. Remembering that Reina had nicknamed her Froslass Idina, and one of the names she had thought of was Elsa, Kumiko was suddenly struck with a realization.

"How about Demi?" she suggested. "It's the name of the singer who performed the end credits version of Let It Go, right?" Despite having 'grown out' of them a few years back, Kumiko still had a fond nostalgia of the animated movies she watched as a kid, and it seemed that Reina was just like her in that regard.

"That… seems like a good idea." Reina noted, then looked down at her Vulpix. "How about you, Vulpix? Does Demi seem like a good name to you?" Judging by the way that she happily yipped, it seemed that Vulpix agreed with her in this regard.

As Kumiko looked on while Reina sent out her Pokémon to let them meet Demi, she saw a Mareep approach her. While that in itself wasn't out of the ordinary, Kumiko then could see a lot of Mareep following behind it, the herd swarming past her and Reina as they thinned out. When the last Mareep had finally passed, both girls were wondering what just happened as a Yamper bounded past them, followed by a young man.

"Sorry," he apologized. "I was herding the Mareep back there when one of them used Confuse Ray on my Yamper, making us lose control of them. Can you help me find and return them? I'll be in big trouble if I don't!"

"Sure," Reina agreed, much to Kumiko's surprise. She'd have thought that Reina would be the more cautious one in scenarios like these. "Where do you need them returned to?"

"There's a farm about a hundred meters from here with a pen that has a gate open." The farmhand gestured to a gathering of buildings a distance away. "Forty-five Mareep were left in the pen. With the help of your Pokémon, getting them all back should be no problem."

With those instructions, Kumiko and Reina were off, scouring the area for the escaped Mareep. Despite seeing the Mareep pass by with her own eyes, Kumiko couldn't help but feel a little bit suspicious at this entire setup, especially with the vague details.

"Don't you think that this all seems a bit fishy?" Kumiko complained to Reina. "I mean, you accepted that immediately without asking for more information. That doesn't seem like something you would do."

"I have no legitimate reason to believe that this is an act of deception." Reina responded. "Besides, even if that was a trick, we can still fight back or escape rather easily, given our current position."

Seeing no incentive to disagree with Reina's sound logic, Kumiko hurried on ahead with her. After a while, they could see a flock of Mareep grazing together, munching on grass without a care in the world.

"Well, that was easy." Reina commented. "From what I could see, there are approximately fifteen Mareep there, or one-third of the total we needed to find." Reaching for one of her Pokéballs, she threw it out to reveal Eurydice.

"Levitate the Mareep and move them back to the farm. I'll show you the way." Upon hearing her Trainer's instructions, Eurydice lifted up all the Mareep with her psychic powers and walked back with Reina towards the farm, her cargo bleating with confusion as to what was happening.

Seeing that Reina was currently occupied with transferring that mass of Mareep back, Kumiko decided to search for more on her own. Walking around the area, she couldn't spot a single one of the Wool Pokémon, but once she went a bit further out, there was a lone Mareep just resting there, minding its own business.

Approaching the solitary Mareep further, Kumiko saw that it was staring at her with a glint of steely resolve in its eyes. Choosing to ignore it and continue rounding up the stray Pokémon, Kumiko approached it more closely, ready to deliver it back to the farm.

Until it used Thunder Shock on her.

Electricity coursing through her body, Kumiko was momentarily stunned as she was hit by the full force of the relatively-weak attack. Despite its low power, Kumiko could still feel the lack of sensation through her entire body. Jumping back reflexively, she sent out Marcato as she recoiled from the tingling sensation.

"Ow, what was that for, you jerk?" Kumiko angrily questioned the Mareep. "Marcato, Wood Hammer!"

As Marcato swung his glowing green hand at the Mareep, it immediately rolled away, causing him to make a dent in the ground. Even more aggravated now, Kumiko ordered Marcato to use even more Wood Hammers, but each time he attacked, Mareep simply dodged. Seeing that Marcato was getting exhausted from using the same attack so many times, Kumiko decided to switch tactics.

"Use Mega Drain!" she commanded, as she sent out Orpheus in tandem. As Marcato trapped the Mareep in place with tendrils of light, Kumiko ordered Orpheus to keep the Mareep in place with his Psychic powers, recalling Marcato after Orpheus had telekinetically restrained the Mareep.

Even though that maneuver wouldn't be allowed in a normal Pokémon battle, Kumiko reminded herself that this wasn't a Pokémon battle, just a simple restraining operation. Yup, nothing dirty or underhanded here at all.

Breathing a sigh of relief after that botched approach, Kumiko was about to tell Orpheus to follow her towards the farm when she was zapped again by the Mareep, which was mischievously bleating to itself. As her body got used to the repeated jolts, Kumiko gestured for Orpheus to follow her, who dragged the Mareep along in the air as it struggled to be free.

Once she arrived at the farm, Kumiko was surprised to see Reina and the farmhand chatting, along with the pen already being mostly full with Mareep already. Looking over, Reina waved at Kumiko as she motioned for her to join them. Upon seeing the Mareep that Kumiko had Orpheus restraining, the farmhand was surprised.

"That's the Mareep that confused my Yamper over there!" he exclaimed. "I'm actually surprised that you managed to bring her back here, since she's the strongest and smartest Mareep here at the farm."

"Wait, you can tell the Mareep apart even though they look the same?" Kumiko was confused as to how the farmhand knew exactly which Mareep was the one that had let them all escape.

"Eh, when you tend to large herds of the same Pokémon, you start to be able to tell them apart by even their smallest mannerisms." he admitted. "Besides, she's always been one to stand out from the herd, so her maverick actions help to separate her from the others when I'm sorting them."

Hearing herself get praised, the Mareep that Orpheus was still holding aloft with his psychic powers let out a burst of electricity. The bolt curved in midair and shocked Kumiko, who was slowly developing an immunity to her power by this time, causing this strange game of Meowth-and-Rattata to lose its appeal for both parties.

"Oh my, she seems to like you." the farm hand noted. "If you want, you can keep her. She's been quite a handful to look after here at the farm with all the trouble she's been causing us, especially after this incident."

"Besides, even if Boss finds out that this Mareep's missing, I can always tell her that she escaped by herself. Nobody cares enough to look for a Pokémon as common as Mareep, since another one can be easily found." he added, most likely to reassure himself that this was perfectly fine.

After hearing the farmhand's comments, Kumiko was indecisive on whether to accept the farmhand's offer and conduct a technically illegal act, or decline and risk causing more trouble to him. Pondering on that thought, she saw Orpheus walking over and lightly touching Mareep, only to be shocked by the static electricity in her wool, causing him to drop her from his hold.

As Mareep began to run away after being freed, Kumiko managed to catch up and forcibly restrain her, preventing her from escaping yet again. However, she didn't shock Kumiko this time, much to her surprise and delight. Bending her head down and nuzzling at her soft wool, Kumiko didn't seem to be affected by the static electricity there, with this feeling reminding her of Nozomi's Swablu huddling on her head with his soft wings.

"That settles it!" Kumiko declared. "I'm taking care of this Mareep!"

"Good to know!" the farmhand commented, seemingly in relief. He uncoupled a Pokéball from his belt and gave it to Kumiko. "This is her Pokéball. I've always kept it on hand to make sure I can recall her if she causes too much trouble, though I suspect that won't be the case now that she's with you."

"Thank you very much!" Kumiko said in gratitude. "I'll make sure to raise her well!"

While Kumiko buried her face in Mareep's wool, comforting herself with her newfound ball of fluff, Reina walked over to her. "Have you thought of a nickname for her yet?" she asked.

"I'm juggling between Mary, Kira, and Laine right now," Kumiko replied. "But I feel that these names don't have that sort of 'ring' to it, you know what I mean?"

"I get what you mean. Even I was struggling earlier." Reina laughed at the mutual plight she and Kumiko shared, which caused Kumiko to laugh as well. Seeing her Trainer's face light up in joy, Mareep flashed her tail in delight, waving it around as Reina had a realization.

"How about Sparkle?" Though Reina knew that name was seeming arbitrarily decided, she thought that it was a perfect fit for the energetic Mareep, whose tail was vibrantly blinking, illuminating the surrounding area.

"Ah! That's it!" Hearing Reina's suggestion, the choice of name clicked with Kumiko for some reason, and she saw that Mareep seemed happy at the choice as well. "Then Sparkle it is!"

Wanting to let her Trainer know that she liked her new name, Sparkle trickled out a bit of electricity from her body, but accidentally lost control midway through, causing her to hit Kumiko with a powerful shock. When the watts subsided, Kumiko's normally curly hair was zapped straight, causing Reina to laugh at the sheer irony of the situation.

"To obtain the fluff, the fluff of equal value must be lost." Reina dryly commented.


	16. Chapter 16: Le Cygne

Both of them having obtained new Pokémon earlier that day, Kumiko and Reina were thoroughly satisfied with their serendipity. As thanks for helping him herd the Mareep, the farmhand had offered to let them stay at the farm's guesthouse overnight, since it was getting late after all that action.

Settling in after the sun had set, Kumiko was tasked with looking after their Pokémon as Reina was showering. Sitting on the porch outside, Kumiko watched as the six Pokémon ran around and played with each other. Upon closer observation, she started to see the dynamics between them, something that she hadn't really noticed before.

Being brother and sister, Orpheus and Eurydice preferred to stick with each other, and the way they moved was in perfect sync. Demi clung to the bottom of Idina's robe, liking the reduced temperature around her fellow Ice-type, while Marcato was rubbing Sparkle's fur, clearly as impressed with its fluffiness as his Trainer.

Hearing the sound of footsteps, Kumiko turned around and saw Reina sitting beside her, a towel wrapped around her glistening hair as the ethereal light of the moon and stars shone down on it, illuminating the left-over droplets of water stuck in it.

"Looks like our Pokémon are having fun, aren't they?" Reina looked at Kumiko, who silently nodded at her.

"Come to think of it, this feels like the first time we've properly let our Pokémon enjoy themselves out in the open." Reina noted. "Maybe it's just me, but it feels like we're being thrust into one adventure after the next, with little time to rest in between."

"Well, sounds like the life of a Trainer to me." Kumiko replied. "It's just like in the comics and TV shows: no matter how absurd the circumstances may seem, the heroes always find themselves entangled in yet another quest to save this Pokémon or help that Trainer, ending with a big battle against some sort of shady organization."

"But this is real life, not just some fantasy." Reina countered. "And we're just bit characters in the grand stage play of life, or at least that's what we're told. I've always hated that point of view, ever since I saw what I could become."

"And what's that?" Kumiko asked, hoping to gain some insight as to what Reina was aiming towards.

"Becoming the Champion." Reina answered. "Ever since I saw the battle where the current Champion of Octiva got his title, I've wanted that position for myself. For me, that's what it means to be special: to rise up above all others in both Pokémon battles and music, and by becoming Champion, I'm already halfway there."

"I see." Kumiko commented, admiring Reina's ambition internally. "But you're still quite young, so there's still plenty of time to achieve that goal. Besides, what's the purpose of going on a journey if you're not discovering yourself through it? Maybe you'll find out something new about yourself."

"Good point." Though Reina's mind was dead-set on becoming Champion as soon as possible by any means necessary, she had to admit that Kumiko's argument had some merit to it. "I still have much to learn about the world, so while I can still work towards my goal, I should take this chance and enjoy my journey, right?"

"Yup." Kumiko was pleased to hear that Reina found a way to make her words of advice mesh together with her personal desires. "After all, fun things are fun, aren't they?"

"I guess you could sum it up that way." Reina concluded, following up with a yawn soon after, making Kumiko laugh. "Guess it's time for bed, isn't it?"

"Yeah, I'm getting tired too, especially after all that's happened today." Kumiko responded. "Wow, I guess time flies when you're having fun, huh?"

* * *

Falling asleep rather easily after the jam-packed day, Kumiko and Reina bid farewell to the farm shortly after they woke up the next morning. Back on the road, they continued forth for a short while, eagerly chatting to each other. A couple hours of walking later, buildings started to peak on the horizon.

"We must be close to Edian City now." Reina observed. "I've already checked the League website ahead of time and learnt that the Gym here uses Fairy-type Pokémon, so we should plan accordingly."

"Any suggestions on what I should do to prepare?" Kumiko asked. "Most of what I did during my previous Gym battles was just a result of on-the-spot thinking, and I'm surprised I actually managed to win them. Were the Gym Leaders going easy on me?"

"It's true that the Gym leaders scale back when facing rookie Trainers," Reina explained. "But they're trained on how to restrain their own strength and limit their tactics while testing the challenger, so in theory you'd be facing someone slightly above your skill level in terms of how many badges you have. Of course, that's assuming that the Trainer proceeds directly from one Gym to the next with minimal interruptions."

"As for training your Pokémon," Reina continued. "I'd suggest teaching them Poison or Steel-type moves to exploit the Fairy-type's weaknesses, though only Marcato is your only team member that can learn moves of those types, so I'd recommend using your strongest moves unless the opponent has a type that resists them. If you'd like, I can teach Marcato Poison Jab when we get settled down."

"Sure!" Kumiko cheerfully responded. Not only could she see how Reina could teach Pokémon new moves (and possibly try out some of those techniques herself), it was also a prime opportunity to get closer to Reina in general as well.

As they neared the city, Kumiko and Reina could see that compared to Perto City, Edian City was much more lively, with people and Pokémon freely roaming the streets. Stalls and food trucks lined the streets, the chatter and aroma creating a bustling atmosphere similar to a carnival.

Even though there were so many options to choose from for entertainment or food, Kumiko didn't seem particularly interested in any of them, in part because there was just too much to consider. Walking down the street with Reina, she could hear the sound of a handbell being shaken, and turned around to see the source of the ringing.

A girl slightly older than her was waving around said handbell while tending to a stall, dressed in a traditional Japanese happi cloaking what seemed to be a school uniform. Said 'uniform' consisted of a cream-colored sleeveless cardigan over a white dress shirt with a red ribbon tied around the collar, complemented with a grey skirt. The girl's brown eyes were framed by equally brown hair tied up with a yellow ribbon, which made her slightly resemble Kumiko if she wore in a ponytail.

Noting the potential similarity, Reina looked at the girl, then looked back at Kumiko and imagined her with that hairstyle. While Kumiko's fluffy hair was part of what made her unique, Reina couldn't help but please herself with the thought of Kumiko wearing her hair like that.

Attracted by the sonorous sound, Kumiko and Reina went over to the stall, wanting to see what that was all about. Once they got closer, they saw that it was a lottery stall, with a garapon (lottery wheel) as the drawing mechanism.

"Come one, come all, test your luck and win fabulous prizes!" the attendant announced. "Get a chance to be in an exclusive Double Battle invitational two days from now! Only five spots left!"

"Double Battle invitational, huh?" Reina was now interested at what the lottery had to offer. "What do you think, Kumiko? Should we test our luck and go for it?"

"I'm all in if you are." Kumiko answered. "After all, whenever we get tangled in a double battle, we seem to work well together."

Seeing the two girls get closer, the stall attendant immediately pulled out a tablet and cross-checked their faces with the photographs that Mio took a few days prior. After confirming that they were the marks depicted in the pictures, the attendant pulled out a coin from her cash box and slid it on the ground towards the duo, hoping to entice them to her stall.

Reina heard a 'plink' sound as something impacted her foot, and she bent down to see a coin there, which coincidentally matched the amount needed to play the lottery once. Picking it up, she turned to Kumiko.

"Wow. I guess you could say that today's our lucky day." Reina remarked. "Now we've got a free try."

Approaching the lottery stall, the attendant energetically waved them over, perhaps too enthusiastically. Now that she had the marks in sight, getting them hooked in was the next step.

"Hi! Would you like to try the lottery today?" she asked Kumiko and Reina. "We've got a lot of cool rewards on offer, but the grand prize is a chance to be in a Double Battle invitational two days from now!"

"Can you tell us more about the Double Battle invitational?" Reina asked, hoping to find out more about this competition.

"Well, it's a simple single-elimination tournament between sixteen teams of two happening the day after next, but it's the prizes that you have to look out for. They include two Z-Power rings from Alola with three Z-Crystals each, a chance to battle against two Elite Four members in an exhibition Double Battle, and two tickets to see a concert of my big sis- an extremely famous rock band at Ongaku Stadium." the attendant answered. "You two look like up-and-coming Trainers, so if you teamed up, I'd say you'd have a good chance of winning."

"That sounds enticing. One ticket to play, please." Reina handed the coin she picked up earlier to the attendant, who placed it back in the cash box it came from. She pressed her foot on a pedal hidden under the counter, which rigged the garapon to produce a winning ball.

"OK, spin the wheel!" the attendant called out. Reina placed her hand on the handle and started to rotate it. After a while, a golden ball popped out of the garapon, and the attendant rung her handbell, this time louder than before.

"We have a winner here!" she announced, then turned back to Kumiko and Reina.

"Congratulations! I can't believe that you two managed to get into the invitational!" she applauded Kumiko and Reina, handing them one ticket each. "I'm sure you two will perform well there!"

"Thank you very much!" they replied in unison. With their invitational tickets in hand, Kumiko and Reina headed to the Pokémon Center as the stall attendant waved them off.

* * *

Once the two marks disappeared from sight, the attendant rolled down the shutters on her stall and discarded the happi she was wearing inside. Now that the marks had taken the bait, she needed to relay the news to the others, especially her big sister.

Going over to a nearby five-star hotel, she went back to the presidential suite she was staying in and drew the blinds, preventing anyone from peering inside and discovering her true motives. Once the room was shrouded in near-darkness, she took out a miniature projector from her pocket and placed it on the dresser, light spilling out from the tiny device.

Once the wall was illuminated with the projected image, six figures were immediately visible, sitting around a conference table and looking at the camera pointed at them.

"Did you find who we were looking for, Ui?" one of them asked, her long black hair flowing down her shoulders. "I hope the photos I took were clear enough to serve as identification.

"Mm, I did." Ui answered. "After I suckered them in, it was only a simple matter of rigging the lottery to provide the desired result. Thankfully the black-haired girl seemed like a battle freak, so it was easy to hook them in with the invitational."

"That's awesome, Ui-chan!" another with short brown hair held up with two hairpins cheerfully responded. "Now we can finally meet face-to-face! I'm so excited!"

"Me too, big sis! They seem like quite the interesting duo! No wonder Meloetta was so interested in them!" Ui's energetic tone matched her big sister's. "Though based on how close they were, I wonder if they might be dating?"

"Now, now, Ui-chan." the oldest figure in the room cleared her throat. "There's no need to pry into the love life of teenagers. You of all people should know that. Speaking of the invitational, have you prepared any contingencies should our targets prove subpar?"

"Don't worry, Sawa-chan-sensei." Ui calmly replied with a smile on her face, opening a case on the table with three Pokéballs in it. "I've got faith in their abilities, and if that faith fails to hold, then I'll just create some."

* * *

Settling into the Pokémon Center, Kumiko and Reina dropped their bags in their assigned room and immediately went to the outdoor battlefield to train. All six of their Pokémon out, Reina used her knowledge of move tutoring to teach Marcato and Eurydice some new moves, while Kumiko kept a watchful eye on the rest of their Pokémon as they paired up against one another in friendly battles to hone themselves.

Since their Pokémon were quite well-behaved, Kumiko only needed to check up on them occasionally to give pointers on how to improve and to bring them back into the Pokémon Center if they got too injured, so she went over to where Reina was.

Based on the flashing purple color that his arm was glowing, it seemed that Marcato was close to mastering Poison Jab, and Eurydice's Fire Punch was also nearing the same level of proficiency as well. However, this left Kumiko confused about something.

"What's the purpose of teaching Eurydice Fire Punch?" Kumiko asked Reina. "You mentioned last time that this was a counter against Steel-types, but given that Eurydice will eventually evolve into Gardevoir, which leans towards Special attacks and can learn the Fighting-type Focus Blast, so a Physical Fire-type move should be redundant."

"I just like to be prepared." Reina answered her. "Many powerful Steel-type Pokémon such as Aegislash and Klefki also have another type that resists Fighting-type moves, so if I'm planning to aim for the top, I need to think at that level too."

"Even as we're planning to challenge the third Gym, you're already thinking that far ahead?" Kumiko laughed. "That's classic Reina for you!"

As Reina also laughed at Kumiko's comment, she saw that it was starting to get dark outside. It seemed that time had flew by so fast so quickly. Motioning to Kumiko that they should return to the Pokémon Center, the two girls recalled their Pokémon and headed back.

Heading towards the Center's dining hall, they could see that all the other Trainers currently present were either looking at or crowded around the TV screen. Going closer, Kumiko and Reina were wondering what all the fuss was about when they heard a voice loudly blaring out from the television's speakers.

"And now, it's the fight of the night you've all been waiting for!" a commentator announced. "The three-on-three battle between Miss Mizore Yoroizuka and Miss Haruka Ogasawara of the Elite Four will now commence!"

"Wait, what?" Kumiko wondered, then realized that she had spoken out aloud again as people looked at her. Covering her mouth in embarrassment, she turned her attention to the TV screen, where the action was starting to unfold.

* * *

As Mizore looked at her opponent, she was relieved that she had the foresight to bring all of her Pokémon with her tonight. Even though she had not anticipated fighting an Elite Four member at tonight's gala, she was confident that she could at least put on a good show for Nozomi.

Looking around the massive audience, she caught a quick glimpse of Nozomi waving at her before focusing back on her opponent. Though Ogasawara was comparatively weaker than Tanaka or even Nakaseko, the mere fact that she was a member of the region's Elite Four meant that she was not to be trifled with under normal circumstances.

Internally deliberating which Pokémon to send out first, Mizore settled on Cream's Pokéball and threw it out, letting her Vanilluxe hover above the ground, her two heads smiling as she did so. On the opposite end of the battlefield, her opponent had sent out her Golisopod, its mandibles rhythmically clicking as it faced the Snowstorm Pokémon.

Putting her oboe to her lips, Mizore began to play a glacially slow version of Handel's Water Music, but before Cream could even attack, Golisopod had already gotten a hit in with First Impression, delivering a strong right hook at her left face before being recalled back into its Pokéball.

Mizore mentally scowled as Ogasawara sent out a Wishiwashi in its place, who grew many times larger as it called on its allies and transformed into its School Form, the once timid fish now a terrifying behemoth. Buckling down, she continued playing her rendition of Water Music as Cream managed to pull off a Freeze-Dry.

Before the attack managed to hit, Ogasawara's Wishiwashi managed to throw up a Protect in time, the barrier blocking the icy beam. However, the barrier did not seem to prevent hailstones from peltering down and damaging it, set up thanks to Cream's Snow Warning ability.

Readying her hard light baritone saxophone, Ogasawara played a section from Strauss' Blue Danube Waltz, making sure that each note was accented to give her Wishiwashi the proper instructions.

As her opponent's Wishiwashi fired out a Hydro Pump, Mizore met it on with another Freeze Dry from Cream, the Ice-type attack freezing the torrent of water back to its origin of Wishiwashi's mouth, dealing super-effective damage to the Water-type.

Her Pokémon still reeling from the attack, Ogasawara remained resolute, playing an extract of Saturn from Holst's The Planets. Mizore was wondering what that meant until she heard the ground shake beneath her feet while the earth broke up below where Cream was hovering in an Earthquake, hurting the Vanilluxe.

Barely flinching, Mizore retaliated with another Freeze-Dry, but as Ogasawara's Wishiwashi shielded itself with another Protect, she switched to playing Edelweiss by Rodgers and Hammerstein. The ice that Cream was emitting suddenly became more focused as it concentrated into an Ice Beam.

While the Protect neglected any damage that either attack did, it still could not negate the physical effects of being encased in solid Ice. Even when Cream's attack ended, Ogasawara's Wishiwashi was still trapped, unable to move as effectively.

However, the ice shattered around Wishiwashi with another Earthquake, setting it free while hurting Cream at the same time. Knowing that most of Cream's attacks would be blocked by Protect, Mizore decided to use a move that would surely hit no matter how Ogasawara reacted.

Playing a section from Edelweiss again, Mizore put more force into it, and Cream fired out a Blizzard that covered the entire battlefield. Normally, such a slow-acting move would have a good chance of missing its target, but thanks to the hail set up by Cream's Ability, the Blizzard now had enough power to hit Ogasawara's Wishiwashi no matter how it tried to dodge.

When the storm had ended, Mizore saw that despite Wishiwashi's unsuccessful attempts at avoiding the Blizzard, it had moved forward during its attempts, so it was already close to Cream. Ogasawara played Mozart's Turkish Rondo, and Wishiwashi rushed forward and attacked Cream with U-Turn before Mizore could react, then returned to its Pokéball.

In its place, Ogasawara sent out her Golisopod again. Seeing her opponent swapping out her Pokémon yet again, Mizore did the same as well, recalling Cream back before sending out Pyotr to fight instead, knowing that her oldest partner would be up for the task. As her Swanna gracefully spread his wings and took to the skies, Ogasawara couldn't help but be impressed.

"So this is your Swanna, right?" the Elite Four member remarked. "He's every bit as majestic as your epithet of 'Blue Bird' might suggest. I'm looking forward to facing off against him!"

"Thank you." Mizore quietly replied, then slipped her oboe between her lips again and played Le Cygne from Saint-Saëns' Carnival of the Animals, her calming yet melancholic notes ringing across the stadium with little effort, making everyone who heard it freeze with shock at how powerful she made the seemingly basic melody seem.

Even though it sounded a bit dull at times, Ogasawara was unable to move upon hearing the beautiful oboe solo, its captivating yet haunting beauty almost driving her to tears at how pronounced the 'swan song' was from the simple yet elegant notes.

As Mizore finished her solo, Pyotr had already launched a Hurricane at Golisopod. Since Ogasawara was still too moved by the solo to command it, Golisopod could only dodge the move in the nick of time, then glared at its Trainer for her inaction.

"Sorry!" Ogasawara apologized, to which it happily clicked its mandibles in response. She then played Sparke's Year of the Dragon on her baritone saxophone, giving Golisopod its next orders as it rushed forward, its two largest mandibles glowing with the draconic energy of Dual Chop.

Mizore played her solo again, momentarily stunning all listeners once more as Pyotr unleashed yet another Hurricane at Golisopod. Initially being swept up by the strong winds, Golisopod managed to regain enough composure to focus both of its fists into one mighty cross chop, which produced so much force that it managed to break the Hurricane apart.

As Mizore's eyes widened at the feat, Golisopod had managed to gain enough height from travelling in the Hurricane that it was now above Pyotr. Ogasawara played Year of the Dragon again, and her Golispod dove down at Pyotr, hitting him with the powerful attack.

Though Pyotr was sent crashing towards the ground, he managed to shrug off the attack and regain his balance just before he impacted the floor, flapping his wings as he returned to the skies. Mizore looked longingly at Nozomi sitting in the audience, then played her solo a third time.

Even when her first two solos sounded excellent, they simply could not compare to the masterpiece that was the third. The music Fueled by Mizore's unrelenting attraction towards Nozomi, everyone in the audience was getting teary-eyed this time around.

As Ogasawara broke down into tears at the sheer emotion in Mizore's solo, Pyotr launched a massive Hurricane towards Golisopod, who was also stunned at how beautiful Mizore's solo was, letting itself get swept up by the attack. The resulting damage triggered its Ability Emergency Exit, sending it back into its Pokéball.

Hearing the click of her Pokéball sealing shut, Ogasawara took this as the cue to stop crying and sent out her Empoleon, the Emperor Pokémon emerging triumphantly, its regal stance showing those around it who was king.

Sighing, Mizore recalled Pyotr, knowing that all of his moves couldn't do enough damage to the Water and Steel-type. In his place, she sent out Solenne, her Absol landing on the ground with all four paws. Raising her oboe to her lips again, Mizore started to play Mozart's Queen of the Night Aria from The Magic Flute.

A spherical multicolored stone embedded between the reed and main body of her oboe began to glow, as did the stone of similar shape and size on Solenne's collar. When the light subsided, Solenne had Mega Evolved.

Not only was her fur longer, but it stood on end at the back of her mane, giving her the illusion of having wings. Her scythe-shaped horn had widened and a smaller one had sprouted on the opposite side of her head, and the tuft of fur there now drooped over one of her eyes, resembling a yin-yang symbol.

As Mizore continued to play the aria, Solenne rushed forward, her horn brimming with the darkness of Night Slash as she relentlessly attacked Ogasawara's Empoleon, who was forced on the defensive from the powerful and quick blows, matched by how Mizore was choosing to accent the notes.

Unable to retaliate effectively, Ogasawara had no choice but to play Ozzy Osbourne's Crazy Train, giving her Empoleon the order to use Metal Claw, its arms glowing silver as it blocked and parried Solenee's slashes with ease, managing to deal some damage on her. Knowing that Empoleon would have been severely weakened by Solenne's repeated attacks despite how valiantly it was fighting, Mizore played Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture.

Hearing her Trainer's melody, Solenne used Superpower, ramming straight into Empoleon's abdomen with all her might, sending the Emperor Pokémon flying back across the battlefield, only stopping short of the stadium's walls because of psychic barriers erected by the linesPokémon beforehand. Once the dust cleared, it was obvious that Empoleon was in no state to battle.

After recalling her Empoleon, Ogasawara sent out her Golisopod for the third time in battle. With no words between Trainer and Pokémon uttered, Golisopod lunged forward and smacked Solenne with First Impression. The raw power in the move was so intense that it split the ground below it, leaving Solenne trapped as Ogasawara slapped her saxophone, commanding Golisopod to use repeated X-Scissors on her.

A series of brutal assaults later, Solenne had fainted from the repeated impacts, returning back to her normal form. Mizore recalled her, then sent out Pyotr again. Playing Le Cygne, Pyotr unleashed a Hurricane again, but Ogasawara was getting immune to the sheer emotion in the piece by now.

Even so, her reaction was delayed, and by the time she had composed herself enough to give out an order, Golisopod was already hit by the full force of the Hurricane, being swept up into the sky despite its weight. When it ended, the Hard Scale Pokémon was sent plummeting back to the ground, making a sizable crater on the floor when it crash-landed.

With such a hard-hitting impact, Golisopod could not continue battling. Even as Ogasawara was close to tears when recalling the second-to-last Pokémon she could use, her will was still firm. Sending out her Wishiwashi, she played Vivaldi's Winter on her saxophone and the Small Fry Pokémon used Ice Beam, its large maw allowing it to fire out its attack over a wider area than normal.

Despite doing his best to avoid the attack, Pyotr was not fast enough to continuously dodge the incoming assault. Eventually, his wings were covered in ice, making him too heavy and not aerodynamic enough to keep flying, and so he plummeted down.

Seizing this opportunity, Ogasawara played Turkish Rondo, signalling Wishiwashi to barrel forward and hit Pyotr with U-Turn, its monstrous strength giving immense power to the attack despite Pyotr's resistance to it. After the impact, it was obvious that Pyotr had fainted, leaving both Mizore and Ogasawara with one Pokémon each.

Mizore recalled Pyotr and sent out Cream, the battle now going back to its first (technically second) matchup. With both Pokémon having faced off against each other before, it was time to settle the score once and for all.

Ogasawara began the decisive battle with a section from the Blue Danube Waltz, with Wishiwashi blasting out a high-speed Hydro Pump. Mizore countered that with her slow rendition of Water Music again, Cream's Freeze-Dry cooling the incoming water stream into a solid heading towards Wishiwashi.

As the effects of the move were starting to take hold on Wishiwashi, Ogasawara injected more force into her notes, causing Wishiwashi to increase the pressure of its Hydro Pump, which managed to break the ice and hurt Cream. However, Freeze-Dry had already done its damage, and by the time that Wishiwashi finished firing its attack, it was too weak to keep sustaining its titanic School Form, returning back to its Solo Form.

Despite her opponent's Wishiwashi suffering from a dramatic decrease in power, Mizore couldn't let her guard down, since Cream was very close to fainting as well. Ogasawara played Turkish Rondo again, and Wishiwashi rushed forward to deliver one final U-Turn.

Knowing that her next move could decide between victory or defeat, Mizore had no choice but to use her most powerful move. Playing her most emotive version of Edelweiss yet, Cream fired out a Blizzard of similar magnitude, its power boosted by the raging hailstorm.

Even as Wishiwashi was being hit by stray winds and snow, it still continued forward, its smaller body giving it the required agility to dodge most of the attack. Slamming into Cream, she easily fell to the floor, but Wishiwashi was exposed to the brunt of her Blizzard and collapsed as well.

With both Pokémon knocked out, it was clear that the match had ended in a draw, with both Mizore and Ogasawara having no Pokémon left that could battle. Recalling her Wishiwashi, Ogasawara strode over to Mizore and stretched her arm out, with Mizore shaking it in response.

"Not only did you display excellent battling skill, but your oboe playing was wonderful as well!" Ogasawara complimented Mizore. "It drove me to tears several times!"

"Thank… you?" Mizore wasn't sure how to respond to that. She just wanted to get away from the massive crowd as soon as possible and be with Nozomi. Being out in public was stressful for her, but the steady rhythm of Pokémon battles helped to drone it out somewhat.

In the audience, Nozomi was proudly smiling at Mizore's achievement, but also shocked at the same time. Even though she knew that Mizore was good at battling, how did she get so good as to draw with an Elite Four member just one year after they separated?

It seemed that Mizore was a girl of many talents.

* * *

As the people surrounding the TV started to thin out after the battle had ended, Kumiko and Reina were the only ones left standing in the dining hall. Still reeling from what transpired on the small screen, both girls were understandably surprised at the outcome.

"Holy…" Kumiko muttered. "I think Nozomi mentioned that Mizore was good at battling, but I didn't expect that she would be this good."

"Indeed." Reina noted. "As we saw a few days ago, battling an Elite Four member is no easy feat, even for a Gym Leader. For someone to match their skill almost evenly in battle is uncommon, seeing as they often are the strongest Trainers in a region. Ms. Yoroizuka must be an extremely talented individual to even lose by a hair."

At that moment, both girls heard someone's stomach grumble, though it was Reina who blushed in embarrassment this time around.

"...I think we need to get dinner now." she sheepishly admitted, garnering a laugh from Kumiko.


	17. Chapter 17: Dance of the Sugar Plum

One dinner and sleep session later, Kumiko and Reina woke up rested and relaxed, ready to take on Edian City's Gym. Despite being the start of a new day, both girls couldn't help but discuss the battle they saw last night on television, the spectacle of strength giving them a sense of awe.

"I mean, it was unbelievable!" Kumiko ranted. "Mizore's Mega Absol being strong enough to take down an Elite Four member's Pokémon in one go? Was that the same docile Pokémon I saw accompanying her a few days ago?"

"It's true that a Mega Evolved Absol gets boosts in attack and speed, which Yoroizuka was leaning towards with how she ordered her Pokémon." Reina answered. "However, its defenses still remain the same, which is why it was easily taken out by Golisopod with super-effective moves."

"Still, like you said yesterday, going toe-to-toe with an Elite Four member is not something that an average Trainer can do." Kumiko noted. "So you goal is to get to her level, right?"

"No. Yoroizuka's good, but I need to be better." Reina's eyes were filled with a glint of determination. "I don't want to merely match Elite Four members in power. I want to be able to surpass not only them, but the Champion as well, and become a truly special Trainer."

"Speaking of which, it seems that we'll be meeting some Elite Four members at the invitational tomorrow." Kumiko thought, recalling the prize they won yesterday. "Even if we don't win the competition, at least we'll get to see how much stronger they are compared to regular Trainers."

"Kumiko, listen to me." Reina's normally cool voice seemed to be pleading with her. "We are going to win this invitational together, and not only witness how strong the Elite Four's power first-hand with our exhibition match, but also get one step closer to matching their power. Remember that the first-place prize included Z-Crystals?"

As Kumiko nodded, Reina explained. "Z-Crystals allow the Pokémon equipped with them to unleash powerful moves called Z-Moves. Even though they're originally from and Alola and are only supposed to work there, they also work in Octiva due to the region's unique geology. Since not many Trainers use them here, we'll have an advantage if we manage to get some."

After hearing Reina's lengthy explanation about Z-Moves, Kumiko was starting to drift back to sleep again until Reina lightly poked her on the arm. "Earth to Kumiko, Earth to Kumiko. We're almost at the Gym."

Hearing that they were close to the Gym was what seemed to wake Kumiko up, despite Reina's finger poke saving her from falling asleep first. Shaking her head and looking around, Kumiko could see the familiar logo of a Gym in front of them.

The building was pastel-pink, with light yellow hollow circles of different sizes dotting the walls. Before they entered, a look of shock dawned on Reina's face as she rummaged through her bag, producing a round stone with the glow the color of a morning star from it.

"Oh, I almost forgot! I found this Dawn Stone a few days ago in the Great Stave Maze before I reunited with you!" Reina exclaimed rather suddenly, slightly shocking Kumiko. "Apparently, that's what the strange glowing stones were. Since I don't have any Pokémon that can use it, take it with you in case Orpheus wants to evolve into Gallade."

"Uhh... thanks?" After Reina thrusted the Dawn Stone into her hands, Kumiko was a little confused, but she gave her gratitude to Reina nonetheless.

Finally entering the Gym building through opaque glass doors, Kumiko and Reina could see that the interior was decorated the same way as the exterior, with the exception of spherical lights hanging down from the ceiling.

"Welcome to the Edian City Gym!" a friendly voice called. "I'm Hirone, the Gym Leader. Are you two here to challenge the Gym today?"

"Yes, we are." Reina answered. "We both have two Gym Badges already."

"OK, then I'll prepare accordingly." The Gym Leader then went off into a room at the back of the Gym, swapping out her Pokémon on hand for ones that matched Kumiko and Reina's level. After the Gym Leader left, Reina turned to Kumiko.

"So who's on first?" Reina asked. "You, or me?"

"I don't really mind." Kumiko admitted. "But I'd rather take some time to observe the Gym Leader's Pokémon first before I face them myself, so would you like to go first?"

"I'm always open to that." Reina replied. "For me, not knowing what Pokémon I'm going to face in battle makes it more fun for me."

After a while, the Gym Leader emerged from the back room, with three Pokéballs on hand. Kumiko noted that beside where she would be standing in battle, there was a clarinet placed on a clarinet stand.

"Who's going to battle first?" she asked.

Reina stepped forward. "I am."

"Since you two have the same number of badges, the rules are as follows for both of you." the Gym Leader clarified. "Each participant can use three Pokémon each, and the challenger can swap out their Pokémon at any time during the battle. The first Trainer whose Pokémon are all knocked out loses."

With that, she sent out her first Pokémon. "Wigglytuff, make some giant steps!"

As the Gym Leader's first Pokémon appeared on the battlefield, it inhaled air and puffed itself up, making itself look bigger than it actually was. Unaffected by this display of intimidation, Reina sent out her Pokémon as well. "Eurydice, raise hell!"

Now that both Pokémon were on the battlefield, the referee made her declaration. "Battle begin!"

Reina made a trumpet materialize from her Pokédex and blew into it, playing Bach's Ave Maria. Eurydice fired out a psychic blast that was much larger than anything that Orpheus could muster up, and the only thing that the Gym Leader's Wigglytuff could do to defend against the attack was to puff up its body to gigantic proportions, hoping that all the air inside it could cushion the blow.

Even as Wigglytuff staggered backwards from the impact of Eurydice's attack, it shrank back to its normal size, only being slightly injured. Her Pokémon bouncing in place, the Gym Leader gave her first order of the battle. "Use Rollout!"

Wigglytuff puffed up and curled itself into a ball, then started to roll towards Eurydice in a sphere of pure destruction. With very little options left for her to choose from, Reina had no choice but to put down her trumpet and speak out. "Eurydice! Intermezzo!"

Kumiko was wondering what Reina had meant when Eurydice Teleported away just as Wigglytuff was about to crash into her. Reappearing above the battlefield, she fired out another pulse of Psychic energy towards Wigglytuff before warping away again, returning back to her original position as her move bombarded the still curled-up Wigglytuff.

Unable to puff up in time, Wigglytuff was hit with the full force of the attack, with Reina following up by playing Ave Maria again while Eurydice fired off another psychic blast. This shock sent Wigglytuff flying across the Gym, only managing to decelerate itself as it regained enough awareness to puff itself up.

Braking its feet onto the ground, Wigglytuff managed to grind itself to a complete halt just before it impacted the wall, and bounced back forward to face its opponent as the Gym Leader switched tactics with her next command. "Wigglytuff, Dazzling Gleam!"

The Balloon Pokémon shone with a dazzling white light as rays of it struck in Eurydice's direction, causing her to frantically Teleport around the battlefield as she tried to dodge the incoming light show. Eventually, her stamina was starting to run out, and she was struck by a stray beam.

Sent flying backwards towards the ground, Eurydice managed to pull herself back up as Reina played Spring from Vivaldi's Four Seasons. Leaves imbued with psychic energy appeared all around Eurydice, then fired themselves in the direction of Wigglytuff, who could only puff up a little bit before being hit by the full force of the move.

The swarm of leaves shredding through Wigglytuff, it was knocked back to the ground as Reina played Ave Maria on her trumpet. Before Wigglytuff could even recover, Eurydice had already Teleported right in front of it and fired its powerful psychic attack once more, pinning Wigglytuff down to the ground with force.

Once the plume of dust from the impact had settled, Wigglytuff wasn't moving anymore.

"Wigglytuff is unable to battle." the referee announced.

Recalling her fainted Wigglytuff, the Gym Leader sent out her next Pokémon. "Togetic, fly free!"

As the Happiness Pokémon settled into a steady hover after fluttering down onto the battlefield, Reina recalled Eurydice. After deliberating for some time on which of her Pokémon to send out, she finally threw out a Pokéball just as the referee was about to catise her for taking so long. "Demi, don't hold back!"

Reina's newest Pokémon energetically yipped as she jumped from her Pokéball, ready to fight in her first official Pokémon battle. Around the battlefield, a small hailstorm started to form thanks to her ability.

Putting her trumpet to her lips, Reina played Vivaldi's Winter as Demi let loose with a powerful Blizzard that blew across the entire Gym, with some snow lodging itself in the hollow yellow circles that dotted the Gym's walls. Despite some frost ending up on Togetic's wings after the attack had ended, it had still managed to survive the powerful attack, and was able to keep flying in the air after shaking the residual frost off.

Seeing that her Togetic was still able to battle even after such a powerful attack, the Gym Leader gained newfound confidence in her Pokémon's resilience. With clarity, she gave her order. "Use Flamethrower!"

Togetic spewed out a pillar of red flame as Demi scampered around, trying to dodge the super-effective attack's raw heat. However, her evading patterns were quite predictable due to being new towards combat, and Togetic was eventually able to trap her in its pillar of flame.

Nearly pushed to her absolute limit, it would seem to most people that Demi would not be able to battle, but Reina had faith in her Pokémon's ability. All Demi needed was one prime opportunity to strike, and Togetic would be down in one move.

However, the Gym Leader was also thinking the same, seeing as both their Pokémon were at such low health. One wrong move or missed opportunity would result in their opponent claiming victory in this battle, and so both sides continued to wait it out, the Pokémon circling each other while their Trainers looked out for any stray movement or mishap in the other's routine.

As time passed, it seemed that this deadlock would not be easily broken. Even though Reina had an easy way out by switching Demi for either Eurydice or Idina, she had faith that her newest team member would perform up to her standards. Staring down her opponent, Reina continued to play the waiting game.

With each minute that passed, the rising sun continued to ascend up in the sky. Passing through the translucent glass that comprised the Gym's roof, a sunbeam directly hit Togetic's eyes, obscuring its vision. Seizing the moment, Reina chose to call out her attack. "Demi, Freeze-Dry!"

With her opponent unable to dodge as effectively, Demi fired out a blast of frozen air that impacted Togetic with little effort. As Togetic's wings began to ice up, what little health it had was whittled down, and it soon plummeted towards the ground.

The referee glanced over at Togetic before making her decision. "Togetic is unable to battle."

The Gym Leader sent out her final Pokémon after recalling Togetic. "Shiinotic, dance with your roots!"

After the Gym Leader's Pokémon was on the battlefield, it immediately began to grow roots from its legs, firmly planting itself into the ground. With Demi already weak from her previous battle, Reina made the decision to recall her, then sent out her only Pokémon that hadn't battled yet. "Idina, rise like the break of dawn!"

As Reina's starter Pokémon glided down onto the battlefield, Shiinotic spat out some seeds at Idina without any commands from its Trainer, clearly having a preplanned strategy that it relied on in battle.

Upon contact with Idina, the seeds grew into sprouts all over her body. Faint tendrils of green light trailed back from those sprouts to Shiinotic's body, slowly draining Idina's strength bit by bit.

Realizing what her opponent's strategy was for this battle, Reina knew that she had to hit hard and fast, with any stalling or hesitation in her moves being another advantage that her opponent would take. Playing Vivaldi's Winter on her trumpet, Idina's Ice Beam was easily blocked by a Protect from Shiinotic, creating yet another delay.

Now that more time had passed and its opponent was weaker, Shiinotic fired out a purple liquid from its mouth that hit Idina, which badly Poisoned her. As Shiinotic was restoring health while Idina was losing hers, Reina saw that the battle's time limit had now drastically gotten shorter for her, limiting her potential options as well. Scowling, she decided to bet it all on one maneuver. Even if this failed, at least she still had Eurydice and Demi left.

Reina played Winter again, but this time she put a staccato on all of the notes. Idina formed a ball of ice in her hands then threw it up, forming a hailstorm that petered over the battlefield. Once the weather conditions shifted in her favor, Reina stopped playing Winter in staccato and instead put more force into it as Idina charged up a Blizzard and directed it towards Shiinotic.

However, Shiinotic managed to attack first, masses of green tendrils emerging from its body as it used Mega Drain on Idina, which wrapped around her body, sapping her strength even further. Gnashing her teeth, Reina knew that despite how ineffective the Grass-type attack was on Idina, it had delayed her plan even further, reducing the time she had to execute it.

Still, Reina remained undeterred, knowing that there was still enough time remaining to finish what she started. Eliminating the staccato from her rendition of Vivaldi's Winter, she then put more force into her notes as Idina charged up a Blizzard and directed it towards Shiinotic.

Even though Shiinotic was constantly trying to put up Protect barriers, all of its attempts were disrupted by the raging storm, which made it unable to concentrate on defending itself. A much simpler option would be to move to a safer position, but being Ingrained into the ground by its roots, its mobility was reduced to zero.

Being battered by the Blizzard, the damage that Shiinotic was taking far outstripped the amount it could regenerate. Eventually it fainted in place, the roots that it grew holding it in place.

"Shiinotic is unable to battle." the referee announced. "The challenger wins!"

As the Gym Leader recalled her Shiinotic, Reina stepped up to receive her Gym Badge. Due to the distance between them, Kumiko couldn't hear their conversation, but she could easily assume that it was no different than what other Gym Leaders said.

Once Reina returned back to where Kumiko was standing, the Gym Leader placed the three Pokéballs she had on hand into a healing machine built into one of the Gym's walls, then waited a while for all of them to heal. After the machine flashed twice, she picked her Pokéballs up and went back to her side of the battlefield, signalling that she was ready to face her next challenger.

Before Kumiko was about to go up, Reina whispered in her ear. "Go get 'em, tiger! You can do it!"

Reina's voice and her proximity to Kumiko sent chills running down her spine and a blush to appear on her cheeks. While she was used to being close with Reina, this was the first time that Reina had deliberately closed the distance between them in public.

Shaking off the strange mixture of giddiness and excitement inside her, Kumiko went over to the challenger's side of the battlefield as the Gym Leader sent out her first Pokémon. "Wigglytuff, it's time to blow up!"

Kumiko saw that the Gym Leader had not changed the Pokémon she had sent out first between battles, so she decided to respond in kind. "Orpheus, play on!"

After Orpheus appeared, the Gym Leader seemed intrigued that both girls had chosen to use Ralts against her. "I see that you two both have the same Pokémon. May I ask why that is?"

"They're siblings that we caught together after saving them from being harmed by some punks." Kumiko answered.

"That's nice of you both, but now it's time to see whether you Ralts can perform as well as his sibling." the Gym Leader commented, then turned towards the referee to indicate that both sides were ready.

"Battle begin!" she announced.

"Orpheus, use Confusion!" Kumiko commanded. Firing out a Psychic pulse at Wigglytuff, Orpheus was surprised when his opponent puffed up to absorb his attack's impact, than shrank back down looking none the worse for wear.

Knowing that Orpheus didn't know Psychic like Eurydice did (and mentally kicking herself for forgetting to have Reina teach him the move), Kumiko still had one option left to deal with Wigglytuff based on Reina's battle with it. "Use Magical Leaf!"

As Orpheus fired out a barrage of homing leaves at Wigglytuff, Kumiko smiled to herself. Even though Orpheus had just learnt this move yesterday, Reina had helped him hone it so that he could use it as well as Eurydice, who mastered it a few days before.

The never-missing attack easily struck Wigglytuff, and though it didn't do much damage due to its neutral typing, it still hurt nonetheless. The speed at which the move hit compensated for its relative lack of power, and coupled with its always-accurate status, it made for a consistent attack.

Orpheus prepared to fire a second barrage upon orders from Kumiko, but the Gym Leader easily saw through this repetitive strategy. "Use Dazzling Gleam to blow away the leaves!"

When Orpheus' attack shot out, it was met head on by an array of white light that not only disintegrated the leaves immediately, but struck him and sent him flying back as well.

After Orpheus got back up, Kumiko realized that constantly spamming the same move was not a good idea against an experienced opponent, as they could quickly see through what she was doing and devise a counter. Reevaluating her options, Kumiko decided to go with what Orpheus knew best. "Use Confusion!"

Even though she knew she was contradicting her previous revelation, Kumiko also knew that Magical Leaf was a new move that Orpheus learnt, so he wouldn't be as experienced with it compared to Confusion. As Orpheus' attack slammed into Wigglytuff again, it seemed to have done more damage than Magical Leaf, as Wigglytuff took more time getting back up.

"Use Rollout!" the Gym Leader ordered after Wigglytuff finished recovering, with the Balloon Pokémon curling itself up and rolling towards Orpheus. Knowing that she would have to adapt to the Gym Leader's shift in plans, Kumiko recalled a trick that she worked out with Orpheus while training yesterday. "Confusion, rondo!"

The Gym Leader was still puzzling over what Kumiko meant by that when Orpheus blasted out a shockwave of Confusion in all directions, drawing on the improvised move he used in his last Gym battle that was now refined into a true variation.

As the omnidirectional pulse hit Wigglytuff, it completely negated its momentum with equal force, causing it to grind to a complete halt mid-roll. Shaking its head and wondering what happened, its current state gave Kumiko a prime opportunity to counterattack. "Use Confusion again!"

The standard version of Orpheus' most-used move struck Wigglytuff as it was regaining its composure, causing it to lose its balance even as it puffed up to absorb the damage. With his opponent now down, Orpheus could now deliver the finishing blow with ease, and Kumiko knew that as well. "Magical Leaf, now!"

Before the Gym Leader could give any orders to her Pokémon, Orpheus' array of leaves was out with full force. Directing them at Wigglytuff, the guided flora cut through his opponent in a mirror display of what his sister had done. After taking a few steps backwards, Wigglytuff fell to the ground.

"Wigglytuff is unable to battle." the referee concluded.

The Gym Leader recalled her fainted Pokémon, then swapped its Pokéball for another one and threw it out. "Shiinotic, hold your notes!"

Kumiko was surprised as the Illuminating Pokémon appeared on the battlefield, the Gym Leader clearly having changed the order she sent her Pokémon out in. Since she knew that Orpheus wouldn't deal well with how Shiinotic battled, she decided to switch him out for a teammate who could counter her opponent's constant draining. "Marcato, put an accent to it!"

Before Kumiko's starter Pokémon fully emerged, Shiinotic had began Ingraining roots into the ground again, repeating its strategy from last time. Once Marcato had hopped on down to the ground, Shiinotic immediately spat out its Toxic liquid at him, but Kumiko already had a plan for that. "Use Poison Jab at the Toxic!"

Just before the poisonous gunk hit Marcato, he leapt up and intercepted it mid air with his right arm, which was currently glowing a venomous purple, causing it to become charged with even more poison.

Diving down at an angle towards Shiinotic, Marcato's opponent was in the process of hastily constructing a Protect barrier when he struck, the souped-up Poison type attack doing quadruple the damage towards the Grass and Fairy-type Pokémon, nearly defeating it with a single blow.

Still, Shiinotic remained resilient even in the face of the imminent doom known as Marcato, as it turned towards its Trainer for advice. Knowing that her Pokémon couldn't deal with this alone, the Gym Leader gave out an order. "Mega Drain!"

Even though Shiinotic knew that this attack wouldn't do much damage to its Grass-type opponent, Mega Drain was still its only move that could directly hurt its opponents, so it complied anyways, firing out the familiar tendrils of green light at Marcato.

Seeing one of Marcato's attacks being used against him, Kumiko realized that since she was usually on the giving end of Mega Drain, she was quite familiar with its strengths and restrictions. Using her existing knowledge, Kumiko was able to find a way for Marcato to deal with it. "Poison Jab, duet fermata!"

Before he was hit by the Mega Drain, both of Marcato's arms glowed purple again with poison, though he didn't strike back, knowing what his Trainer meant by her orders. As the tendrils wrapped around him, Marcato didn't even seem to resist, letting himself be drained by the ineffective attack.

While Shiinotic was regaining some health by sapping away at Marcato's, it began to notice that something was going wrong when the tendrils connected to Marcato's arms were starting to turn purple from their usual green. Breaking off the Mega Drain at once, it was still too little too late for Shiinotic as the poison secreted from Marcato's arms took its toll.

With Shiinotic fainting in place, the referee made her call. "Shiinotic is unable to battle."

Switching out her fainted Pokémon for the last one she had on hand, the Gym Leader threw her final Pokéball out. "Togetic, spread your wings!"

Seeing that Marcato would have trouble dealing with a Flying-type despite his super-effective move, Kumiko recalled him and sent out her newest partner in his place. "Sparkle, keep your duty!"

Once Sparkle had adjusted herself from coming out of her Pokéball, she shook her wool to get rid of the dust stuck there, letting out a slight discharge of static in the process. Making sure her coat was clean, she faced her opponent, ready to let loose.

"Use Thunderbolt!" Kumiko commanded. Shaking her fur again, Sparkle built up a charge of static electricity before firing out a bolt of lightning that rocketed across the battlefield, with Togetic barely avoiding the attack, causing it to impact and shatter the wall behind it.

"Dazzling Gleam, now!" the Gym Leader called out, with Togetic beating its wings and unleashing streams of light that hit Sparkle, even as she rolled across the floor to dodge them. Thankfully, her thick wool managed to absorb some of the impact, but it still hurt nonetheless.

"Sparkle, Thunder Wave!" Seeing that Togetic was too fast to be hit by all but area-of-effect attacks, Sparkle fired off one of her own, albeit a status inducing one. Regardless, Togetic was caught by it and was paralyzed, its body movements slowing as the external electricity interfered with its nerves.

Even as it struggled with the paralysis, Togetic was still able to battle, though not as effectively. As Togetic's speed was now hampered, the Gym Leader had to slightly adjust her plans to compensate for a lack of mobility. "Use Dazzling Gleam!"

Though Togetic's reaction was slower than usual, it still managed to fire off the powerful Fairy-type attack, which struck Sparkle with ease. As her Pokémon struggled to recover from the impact, Kumiko saw that Sparkle needed some encouragement to get back into the fight. Taking out her Pokédex, she tapped a button on it as a hard light euphonium sprang out into her hands.

Pressing the valves, Kumiko played a short melody on her euphonium, the warm notes flowing out with grace. She had heard someone play this piece several years ago, and while she didn't know its name, the melody touched her so much that she pored over her recording of it for a long time, memorizing every note in her heart.

From the sidelines, Reina was surprised at just how good Kumiko's technique was. All of her notes were delivered with unerring precision, and the space between them seemed to accentuate the melody even more. If she didn't know that Kumiko was behind that wonderful sound, she would have sworn that it was a professional euphonist playing.

Hearing her Trainer's melody, Sparkle was filled with renewed strength as she rose back up, ready to take down her opponent once and for all. Newfound determination brimming inside her, Sparkle's resolution was made apparent when she began to glow with a bright blue light.

Kumiko deactivated her euphonium as she saw that Sparkle was getting bigger, losing her wool and standing on her hind legs. Once the light had subsided, Sparkle's skin was now pink, and her tail orb was now sea blue instead of orange, revealing that she had evolved into a Flaaffy.

"All right, Sparkle!" Kumiko cheered her Pokémon on, her confidence renewed with the sudden evolution. "Let's finish this! Thunderbolt!"

Togetic tried to dodge the incoming Electric-type attack again, but the newly-evolved Sparkle fired out a wider Thunderbolt at her opponent, striking where she had previously missed by a hair.

The extra electrical impulses didn't help Togetic's paralysis, but it still persisted through the super-effective attack. Seeing that her Pokémon was still able to fight, the Gym Leader gave out an order. "Dazzling Gleam, again!"

Thanks to her improved speed, Sparkle was able to dodge more of the light beams before she got hit, though she managed to shrug the damage off quicker this time. Now that Togetic wasn't in any condition to keep firing moves out, Kumiko decided to take this moment. "Thunderbolt, once more with feeling!"

Even as Togetic tried to move, the continuous electric damage to its nervous system prevented it from doing so, so it was basically a sitting Ducklett when Sparkle fired out her Thunderbolt. One zap later, and the Happiness Pokémon was down for the count.

"Togetic is unable to battle." the referee announced. "The challenger is victorious!"

"You go, girl!" Kumiko ran over and hugged Sparkle. "Evolving in the middle of a battle like that? Simply amazing!"

Pleased that her evolution had turned the battle's tide, Sparkle happily let out a discharge of electricity that shocked Kumiko again and straightened out her hair, but her Trainer just laughed off the damage, also overjoyed that Sparkle had gotten much stronger in such a short amount of time.

* * *

After receiving her badge, Kumiko and Reina didn't have much to do for the rest of the day, so they just toured around Edian City until they got bored late in the afternoon, then returned back to the Pokémon Center for a training session, dinner and sleep.

Once they woke up bright and early the next day, both girls were ready to rock. Armed with their tickets for the Double Battle invitational, Kumiko and Reina headed down the street towards where the tournament was going to be held.

"I wonder if we'll meet anyone we know there." Kumiko commented on the way. "I mean, it's not that likely, but it'd be reassuring to see some friendly faces among the other participants."

"That would be surprising, but you never know what could happen." Reina responded, seeing the stadium peering out ahead of her. "We're almost there now."

Arriving at the stadium a short while later, Kumiko and Reina gave their tickets to the attendant at the gate, who let them in through the entrance to the ground floor, where the battles were scheduled to be held.

Finding their team's assigned position, Kumiko and Reina stood there as they watched the rest of the participants file in. Kumiko swore she could have seen some familiar faces among the assembled crowd, but her eyes turned towards a stage at the other side of the arena as somebody tapped the microphone placed there, creating a sound that rang through the stadium's speakers.

Looking at the two figures on stage, Reina could immediately identify one of them as Kaori Nakaseko, the Steel-type specialist of the Elite Four. However, it was the other person standing alongside her that genuinely gave Kumiko a shock.

"Aoi?"

* * *

A/N: Unfortunately, there will be no new chapter next week. This is for two reasons: the release of Pokémon Sword and Shield last Friday (which I spent a sizeable amount of time playing instead of writing), and me needing to perform as a trombonist in my school's musical next Wednesday and Thursday. While you all won't see what happens to Kumiko and Reina until December 5th, I'll leave you with three lines from the next chapter to keep you hanging, seeing as almost all of it comes out of left field.

"Ms. Saitou, please consider our offer. You have nothing to lose here."

"Any Trainer worth their salt can't turn down an offer as lucrative as this." Tanaka replied. "Besides, who doesn't love a good challenge?"

Entering the hotel lobby, Aoi was greeted not by a receptionist, but by someone sitting on the sofa wearing a Tuba-kun mascot suit.

Stay tuned!


	18. Chapter 18: Otanjyoubi Omedeto, Nozomi

1 day ago...

"Are we there yet, Nozomi?"

Walking along with Mizore from Subdomi City to Edian City, Nozomi turned to look at her friend, who was staring back at her with expectant eyes. "We're about halfway there, Mizore. You can tell by how grass starts to cover the ground after this point."

"...I see." Mizore quietly replied. Since she didn't leave Perto City much, she often had no idea what the outside world was like. That was where Nozomi helped her the most, serving as a guide to the various locales they came across on their travels, having travelled all around Octiva in the year they had been separated.

After Mizore's battle with Ogasawara of the Elite Four the previous day, the pair had taken the high-speed train back to Subdomi City from Ongaku Stadium, where they had stayed the night at one of the city's well-known hot springs resorts.

Even though Mizore wanted to stay at one of the ski resorts at Eigve City, which they could have just as easily travelled to from Ongaku Stadium, she let Nozomi take the lead here, since her desired had signed them up for a Double Battle tournament taking place tomorrow in Edian City, which Subdomi City was much closer to.

Passing by a nearby river on the way, Nozomi seemed to notice something unusual. Bending down to look, she saw that the water flowing downstream looked muddier than it should have been, seeing as the river's bottom only consisted of loose rocks and pebbles from what was visible of it.

As she wondered about what could have happened that caused the water to be dietired that much, Nozomi turned to Mizore. "Can you send Fugue out to investigate the water's content? I'm suspecting that it may have been caused by a Pokémon's move, but only your Qwilfish can confirm that."

"Sure." Mizore agreed, sending out her beloved Qwilfish. Fugue floated down to the water and immersed himself in it, swallowing some of it before spitting it back out almost instantly, then returned to Mizore's side.

"Fugue says the water content reminds him of Muddy Water, but he needs a sample of the actual move to cross-check it with." Mizore stated. "Can you send out Allegrezza and ask her to use Muddy Water?"

"Sure!" With that, Nozomi sent out her Goomy, who had been her latest catch. "Allegrezza, use Muddy Water at Fugue!"

Allegrezza sprayed out a torrent of murky water at Mizore's Qwilfish, and the Balloon Pokémon swallowed some of the attack, spitting it out after Nozomi recalled her Pokémon when her attack finished.

"Fugue can confirm that the water in the river is Muddy Water." Mizore "But he has no idea what sort of Pokémon could have expelled that much to keep a river like this so polluted."

"Well, since we've got time, let's go investigate!" Nozomi suggested. "Edian City isn't all that far from here, so we can still make it even if it's dark. Come on!"

"Okay…" Mizore reluctantly agreed. She wanted to get to Edian City as soon as possible herself, but if this was what made Nozomi happy, then she was willing to go along with it.

* * *

Walking upstream, Nozomi saw that the water was becoming progressively muddier, to the point that some of it was starting to seep out onto the riverbanks, turning the surrounding soil into massive areas of mud that didn't allow for plants to grow there. A short distance away, a large dam came into view, its age marked by fractured concrete and plants growing all over its exterior.

Approaching the dam, it was apparent that this was the source of the Muddy Water, with untold liters of it pouring down from the drainage pipes above, causing the normally pristine river water held above it to be stained with an unhealthy-looking brown color.

"Wow, this dam sure looks old." Nozomi noted. "I wonder if it's still operational, though based on how it looks, I'm pretty sure that no one has been here in ages."

Looking over to a door built into the side of the dam, this confirmed her point, as it was swinging open in the wind, making creaking noises while it did so. Stepping inside, Nozomi could feel a chilly yet moist draft blow in the direction of the open door, with flickering lights illuminating the humid interior.

Following Nozomi, Mizore walked further into the dam, noticing faint sounds of scampering echoing across the narrow interior as she climbed up several flights of stairs. She wondered what sort of Pokémon that may have been, but chalked it up to most likely being something common such as Rattata or Skitty.

Approaching what seemed to be the main generator room, Nozomi saw that the door separating it and the corridor she and Mizore were in was blocked by massive pieces of debris that seemed to have fallen from the ceiling. Going closer, Nozomi could hear some cries that didn't sound human from inside, indicating that the unlucky souls that had gotten themselves trapped in there were almost certainly Pokémon.

"Mizore, can you send out Solenne to cut out a path in front of us?" Nozomi asked, prompting Mizore to nod and send out her Absol, who quickly dealt with the obstacles blocking their way with several Night Slashes. Finally being able to push open the door, Nozomi entered the room, ready to uncover the truth behind this little adventure of hers.

In the generator room, a raised catwalk connected where Nozomi and Mizore were on to the opposite side of the dam, with water flowing down from above. The middle of the catwalk was extended out towards where the water was rushing, and it was currently holding four Quagsire and a Wooper.

Approaching the pack of Pokémon, Nozomi saw that they seemed to instinctively huddle around the Wooper, protecting it from any danger. "Hi, we don't mean you any harm. What's wrong here?"

One of the Quagsire pointed towards the pipes hanging from the ceiling over the catwalk, where Mizore could hear clanking noises emanating from the far side of the room above them. Looking at Nozomi, she realized that her desired had also heard the ruckus, and was going over to investigate it.

As Nozomi balanced herself on the catwalk, Mizore began to piece the events that transpired together. Whatever was hiding inside the pipes had somehow caused the rubble from before to block the door, trapping the Quagsire and Wooper inside. They had tried to use Muddy Water to escape, hoping their powerful attack could break the dam's sturdy concrete, though to no avail so far.

Just as Nozomi crossed over to the other end, Mizore heard a low rumbling sound that shook her out of her thoughts before the pipes overhead burst and crashed onto the floor, sending water pouring everywhere in an unending torrent before the catwalk itself was split in two, leaving the two girls on opposite ends.

Without hesitating, Mizore was about to reach for Pyotr's Pokéball, knowing that her Swanna could barely carry a human being. However, just as her hand settled on the round shape, Nozomi held up her hand to stop her.

"Mizore, evacuate the Quagsire and Wooper first! I'll handle the rest by myself here!" Nozomi called out, hoping that her voice could reach Mizore amidst the roar of the rushing water.

"Nozomi…" Mizore trailed off, hesitating for a moment before quickly nodding her head, scooping up the Wooper with her arms and gesturing for the Quagsire to follow her out of the dam. Though she knew that Nozomi was a competent Trainer that could keep herself out of trouble, Mizore was afraid that she might have been taking too much of a risk here.

Carrying herself to the other side of the generator room, Nozomi opened the door there to see the pipes above the corridor there had been busted wide open quite violently, as if they were attacked from the inside. Looking around, Nozomi saw two figures darting around her in the dark, constantly evading her until they pounced from behind, revealing themselves to be a Togedemaru and a Mimikyu.

"Giocoso, Cambiare, let's go!" Quickly sending out her Aipom and Zorua, her two Pokémon appeared at their Trainer's side, ready to face off against their opponents.

"Giocoso, Fire Punch at the Togedemaru! Cambiare, Shadow Ball at the Mimikyu!" After their Trainer gave out her orders, Nozomi's Aipom leapt at the Togedemaru with the hand on his tail glowing with powerful flames, while her Zorua concentrated Ghost-type energy near his mouth and fired it out.

Before both attacks could connect, the wild Mimikyu stretched out its shadowy arm and grabbed the Togedemaru, then blocked the incoming attacks with little effort in one swift movement. Reacting quickly, the Mimikyu then threw out its partner, who bounced around the corridor's walls and ceiling, requiring both Nozomi and her Pokémon to constantly dodge the incoming attacks, which were starting to make dents around her.

Realizing that the room would soon collapse on everyone if she didn't act quickly, Nozomi ordered her Pokémon to use a move they both knew, hoping that it could decisively end this battle. "Foul Play!"

Avoiding the bouncing Togedemaru by swinging on the pipes above and clinging to outcrops in the walls, Giocoso made his way to the Mimikyu, coating the hand on his tail with Dark-type energy and slamming it down on the wild Pokémon, effectively preventing it from battling any further.

Cambiare transformed into another Togedemaru then bounced around the corridor as well, wanting to collide with its opponent in this state. After a while, it finally seemed that both Pokémon were now headed straight for each other, but Cambiare transformed back into his original appearance as a Zorua before biting down on his opponent, finally making it give in.

"Good work, guys!" Nozomi walked up to her partners, then looked at the two wild Pokémon she had subdued. "Now, let's see how you little troublemakers should be dealt with."

Before she could actually consider what to do, Nozomi heard another cracking sound before the corridor's walls and ceiling creaked under pressure, causing water to flood in. Telling her Pokémon to not let go of their opponents and follow her, Nozomi went back to the main generator room, where it was apparent the dam was starting to break under the stress of age.

Sighing, Nozomi hoped that Mizore had contacted someone with a Psychic-type Pokémon to come and rescue her, knowing that she couldn't get out alone. However, as her Pokémon waited for their Trainer's next command, Nozomi could hear the sound of gale-force winds impacting the concrete of the dam.

Realizing that Mizore had ordered her Swanna to try and use Hurricane to directly break the dam, Nozomi decided to help her as well to speed up the process. Sending out two of her Pokémon that had recently evolved, Nozomi ordered them to use their most powerful attacks on the dam as well. "Elo, Dragon Pulse! Sakura, Sunny Day then Solar Beam!"

Nozomi's Altaria fired out a surge of Dragon-type energy from his beak at the point where the dam had fractured most, while Sakura shot out an orb of radiant heat and light above them, turning into her Sunshine Form before rapidly charging up a Solar Beam that impacted the same spot when she fired it out.

After multiple repeated attacks, the dam finally burst open from the stress of age and Pokémon moves. Seeing Mizore wave at her from below with her own Pokémon and the ones she rescued, Nozomi gestured for her Pokémon to climb on Elo's back, their targets still with them, before getting on herself.

Elo gracefully glided the short distance down back to the ground before Nozomi hopped off his back, along with all her other Pokémon and the ones they incapacitated.

Seeing Nozomi safe and sound after being worried sick for the past moments, Mizore impulsively hugged her desired, completely disregarding whether Nozomi wanted that physical affection or not. "...I'm glad to see that you're OK. I missed you so much."

"Calm down, Mizore. It's only been a short while." Nozomi replied, her hand instinctively returning the hug as well without any input from her mind. "Besides, I handled myself perfectly fine in there. See, I found the culprits that were causing all this trouble in the first place!"

Mizore's eyes shot wide open, not from the words that Nozomi said, but that simple gesture of physical intimacy and affection she had just displayed towards her. Ever since she had known Nozomi, getting closer to her was all that Mizore had desired, and it looked like she had just taken the next step in that process.

However, Nozomi had no idea what had just went through Mizore's mind, and so she ended the hug, prematurely in Mizore's opinion. Slightly disappointed, Mizore looked on as Nozomi went back to where her Pokémon were assembled, and presented the Togedemaru and Mimikyu to her.

"How do you think we should deal with these little pests?" Nozomi asked Mizore, who only saw one logical course of action from this point.

"...Capture them?" Mizore replied, starting to become unsure if this was the answer that Nozomi wanted to hear.

"Huh, somehow never thought of that." Nozomi pondered for a moment, then turned to Mizore and smiled. "That's a great idea!"

Taking out a Pokéball, Nozomi was about to use it before remembering something. "Is it OK if you take the Mimikyu? After seeing them battle, I feel like Togedemaru fits me more."

"...Sure." Tapping the Pokéball on the Togedemaru's head, Nozomi waited for a moment before it made a click, indicating that a successful capture had been made. After Nozomi took out her Pokédex to check the Togedemaru's information and sent it out as its Trainer, Mizore took out a Pokéball of her own and did the same to Mimikyu as well, capturing it without a hitch.

"Well, since you're so round, then Rondo it is!" Mizore heard Nozomi exclaim, most likely having already decided on a nickname for her Pokémon. Sending out her newly-captured Mimikyu, Mizore thought to herself before finally settling on a nickname for it.

"Ostinato, then." Mizore simply stated. Seeing as Nozomi had named her Togedemaru after a repeating rhythm in music, then it made sense for Mizore to do so as well. Her Mimikyu looked at her expectantly, then it did a little happy dance at the nickname.

* * *

Waving the Quagsire and Wooper they rescued goodbye as they swam down the now clear river, Nozomi and Mizore looked on at the waterfall flowing down the former dam, which they had helped to create through their Pokémon's moves.

"Well, I'd say that was quite an unexpected detour." Nozomi admitted. "Not only did we rescue some wild Pokémon, but also caught new partners as well, and created a new natural landmark in the process. Talk about a crazy day, huh?"

Mizore nodded, thinking about how Nozomi was literally the epitome of beauty and grace when she floated down on Elo, her Altaria's blue skin matching her eyes perfectly. Smiling to herself at that thought, she suddenly thought of the perfect birthday gift for Nozomi, even though it was a few months from now. It would be challenging to acquire, but only she could do it given her family's wealth and connections.

"Oh, did I also mention that you looked so cute when you cradled the Wooper?" Nozomi added on. "Your face was almost a dead ringer for it! I wish I had taken a picture of that!"

Nozomi couldn't understand why Mizore quickly buried her face in her hands as her face grew as red as a Tamato Berry.

* * *

A/N: Bet you all weren't expecting a chapter for Nozomi's birthday, huh?

Writing this chapter also came as a surprise for me, since I was planning to release Chapter 18 normally on Thursday. However, I was reminded by Taka (the No. 1 Nozomi stan) that December 3rd was Nozomi's birthday, so I thought "Eh, why not write a chapter to celebrate?" and cranked out this chapter in two days, which explains the shorter length.

While I have considered writing birthday chapters for other characters before, I still wanted to make any birthday chapters I write plot-relevant to not alienate readers from the overall story, and writing special chapters earlier would seem weird and incoherent, so this first birthday chapter explains how Nozomi and Mizore get new additions to their team, and shows off all the Pokémon Nozomi has on hand.

This premise for this chapter was also inspired by some Hibike x Pokémon fanart I saw on Twitter featuring Mizore holding a Wooper accompanied by four Quagsire. Since it was so adorable, I couldn't just ignore that! (though sadly, Nozomi and Mizore's teams have all been planned out in advance, so no Wooper/Quagsire will be joining them at a later point).

As another piece of unfortunate news, publishing this chapter ahead of schedule means that there will be no regular chapter on Thursday, so the next regular chapter will be published next Thursday, December 12th. I will also have something else (un)fortunate to announce that day, so keep your ears open for more information.

Whew. Now that I've said everything I need to say, here's three more lines from the next chapter as a reward to everyone who's read up to this point.

"You still haven't told me where I'm going or who I'll be facing yet." Aoi retorted. "What if this is all out of my reach as a Trainer?"

As the first explosions started to ring in her ears, Aoi could only say two words. "Oh, fu-"

"Wow, you've only been awake for thirty seconds and I get all these questions hurled at me." Tanaka dryly remarked. "Let's start from the beginning."

Stay tuned!


	19. Chapter 19: The Phantom of the Opera

Even though she was far away, there was no mistaking who Kumiko saw on stage: her childhood friend Aoi Saitou.

Stifling a noise of surprise, Kumiko's mind was set ablaze by this sudden revelation. The last time that she had seen Aoi was almost a year before she started her own Pokémon journey, when her oldest friend abruptly told her that she had to do something important, and so she wouldn't be able to see Kumiko.

During that time, Kumiko had tried to message Aoi on her whereabouts, but all she got were some painfully generic and short replies. After a while, she stopped asking altogether, though the feelings of tension and worry never truly disappeared from her heart.

Seeing Aoi again caused that anxiety to dissipate, but in its place sprang up confusion. Recalling her memories about Aoi, Kumiko remembered that her friend wasn't that spectacular at battling, so something had definitely changed between the time Aoi left and now.

Nudging Reina, Kumiko decided to ask her girl friend (not the other type of girlfriend, she reminded herself) if she knew what Aoi had been up to, as well as who the person standing beside her was. After all, Reina was clearly more knowledgeable about Octiva's A-list Trainers and musicians.

"Who are the two people standing on stage?" she whispered.

"You don't know them?" Reina whispered back with an incredulous look on her face. "They're both part of the Elite Four, and the one with the bob cut is Steel-type specialist Kaori Nakaseko, while the one with braids is Ghost-type specialist Aoi Saitou."

"Do you know how Ms. Saitou became an Elite Four member?" Kumiko was now diving into her main question, hoping that Reina would provide her with details about the events that transpired to cause her friend to become so powerful.

"I'm not sure." Reina answered. "Apparently, all details about her rise to power are kept highly confidential by the League for some reason, so nobody knows much about how strong she is as a result."

"-and that's all the rules for this tournament." Nakaseko concluded, causing Kumiko and Reina to realize that they had missed the announcement in its entirety during their conversation. "Please wait for an hour while the adjudicators create a bracket based on your group's combined achievements to ensure fair matchups."

"Well, at least we get some time to check the rules now." Kumiko panned.

* * *

While Reina went off to get a copy of the rules, Kumiko was left standing alone on one of the stadium's balconies as she looked outwards at Edian City's landscape, the highly urbanized environment staring back at her. Wondering when Reina was going to be back, Kumiko breathed out a sigh as she heard a rustle behind her.

Turning around, all that greeted her was a slight breeze whistling as it swept across the platform. Shaking her head and going back to her original position, a sudden clank on the ground made her heart skip a beat. All that Kumiko saw when she looked again was a trash can lid clattering on the ground, most likely knocked over by the gust of wind.

Quietly groaning about all those false alarms, Kumiko looked back at the scenery, only to be greeted face-first by a Banette staring directly at her.

Screaming at the top of her lungs, Kumiko's mind entered a state of panic as the Banette simply laughed at her plight, its zippered mouth making metallic clicking noises as it did so. Unable to relax, Kumiko's thoughts were all scattered until she felt someone place a hand on her shoulder. "Calm down, Kumiko. It's OK now."

Looking behind her, Kumiko saw the familiar face of her childhood friend staring back, a warm smile greeting her as if she had never left. After confirming that Kumiko's breathing had returned to normal, Aoi turned to glance at her Banette, who promptly stopped laughing as its Trainer spoke.

"That was an excellent show you put on there, but maybe it was a little too scary for Kumiko?" she suggested, to which Banette sheepishly rubbed a hand behind its head in response.

'Gah! Aoi, your Banette really scared me back there!" Kumiko gawked. "Was that the same Shuppet that only did lame jumpscares a few years ago?"

Banette was not amused at that comment.

"What, no tears for your old friend?" Aoi teasingly asked. "Just kidding. It's great to see you again, Kumiko."

Kumiko and Aoi embraced each other in a hug, both girls missing each other dearly. After separating, though she was pleased that her friend had returned again, Kumiko was still confused about this entire state of affairs.

"Same here, but what I can't wrap my head around is how you managed to become an Elite Four member." Kumiko noted. "The last time I saw you, you just got your eighth Gym Badge, and you said that it was barely a victory at that point."

"True, but a lot can change in a year." Aoi responded. "It's quite a long story, but I think we should have enough time for it before the invitational starts. I'm sorry that I haven't contacted you much during that time, but I'll explain why that happened."

Aoi was about to start talking again when Kumiko noticed Reina nearby with a sheet of paper in her hand. Kumiko waved her over, and as Reina approached, she got a good look of who Kumiko was sitting with and nearly dropped her paper from shock.

"Kumiko… don't tell me you somehow managed to charm another Elite Four member in an absurdly short period of time?" Reina's curiosity spiked up at just how ridiculous this entire situation seemed to her. "What sort of luck do you have?"

"Sorry, I lied to you earlier." Kumiko admitted. "Aoi and I are actually childhood friends, but I played dumb there just to see if you knew something about her disappearance for the past year, which I knew completely nothing about."

"It's OK." Reina's response seemed pleasant enough on the surface, but while Kumiko had only told a little white lie, Reina was the sort of person to despise anyone concealing the truth from her. However, she decided to make an exception for her special one.

"I was just about to tell Kumiko about why I went off the grid for almost a year," Aoi told Reina. "But seeing that you and her have quite the special bond, how about I tell my story to you both?"

"That would be most welcomed, Miss Saitou." Reina replied. "Being a battle enthusiast myself, I've always wondered why there was a certain part of your past that seemed to be concealed on all official records."

"Please, just call me Aoi. Any friend of Kumiko's is also a friend of mine." Aoi calmly responded. "Now, let's get on to the main point…"

* * *

1 year ago…

"Ms. Saitou, please consider our offer. You have nothing to lose here."

The voice of the Elite Four's Haruka Ogasawara rang through the dimly-lit room, even though she wasn't speaking loudly. As Aoi looked around the room nervously, the other two occupants stared at her, one perhaps too intently.

"Well~ Saitou-chan," Asuka Tanaka spoke up, clearly piqued by Aoi's disinterest in the whole matter. "Let's put it this way: it's just a simple infiltration and extermination mission, perfect for someone like you."

"But why me?" Aoi asked. "I'm just a regular Trainer on a Pokémon journey. Couldn't you find someone more competent to do it for you? Maybe a Gym Leader?"

"Ah, that's precisely why we want you." Tanaka smirked. "It's because you were placed on the League watchlist for potential Gym Leader replacements a while ago, so we've already determined you're competent enough. Plus, you're a virtual unknown to the enemy, seeing as you're an ordinary Trainer. If we sent an actual Gym Leader or an Elite Four member there, their cover would be blown quite easily."

"Adding on to Asuka's points, it's because you specialize in using Ghost-type Pokémon." Ogasawara continued on where Tanaka left off. "The region you'll be operating in has a high concentration of Niente gas deposits, which is harmless to humans but fatal to all organic Pokémon. However, since your team is entirely composed of Ghost-type Pokémon, none of them will be affected by the gas, so you'll be able to use your Pokémon normally outdoors."

"You still haven't told me where I'm going or who I'll be facing yet." Aoi retorted. "What if this is all out of my reach as a Trainer?"

"Don't worry. It should be manageable for you." Tanaka seemed confident in her analysis. "You'll be going to the Opéra region, a protectorate of Octiva. It's a region where Niente gas is harnessed and refined into an energy source, so it's of important strategic value. As for who you'll be facing, take a look at these files."

Handing over four manila folders to Aoi, she skimmed through them. "Death... Devil? Aren't they a speed metal band?"

"Yes, though all four members are noteworthy Trainers as well." Ogasawara answered. "We've received reports from informants that they're attacking and stealing shipments of Niente gas, but we can't publicly arrest them since they're celebrities. That's why we need you to take them down covertly and gather enough physical evidence to justify their crimes."

"How strong are they?" Aoi asked. "I mean, running a criminal enterprise with only four people? That must take a lot of power to do."

"Based on past records, we've confirmed that their leader 'Catherine' is the strongest, about on par with a Gym Leader." Ogasawara affirmed. "The other three are slightly below her in strength, so you should track them down first before confronting 'Catherine' to get a good feel for how strong they are."

"And if I do all this, you'll allow me to become a Gym Leader?" Aoi asked. Now that her end of the bargain was laid out in detail, it was time for the League to uphold their own.

"Precisely!" Tanaka exclaimated. "If you succeed, that is. There's a low chance of failure for someone as competent as you, but provided that you meet our demands, we'll waive all the other requirements for becoming a Gym Leader."

"...I'll have to consider it for now." Aoi concluded, then stood up and politely bowed. "Thank you two very much for having me here."

After Aoi left the room, Tanaka smiled. "She'll be back. I'm sure of it."

"How do you know, Asuka?" Ogasawara was reticent. "Don't tell me it's because of your intuition again."

"Any Trainer worth their salt can't turn down an offer as lucrative as this." Tanaka replied. "Besides, who doesn't love a good challenge?"

* * *

2 months later…

Aoi was struggling to catch her breath. After nearly a month and a half of scouring the Opéra region, she had finally managed to corner all four members of Death Devil in a warehouse near the largest city's outskirts containing the stolen barrels of liquified Niente gas. Managing to defeat all of them by the skin of her teeth, she was relieved that her journey was finally over.

However, as she looked over at the leaders of the disgraced rock band, Aoi could see that their leader 'Catherine' was smiling evilly at her.

"Heh heh heh, young miss." the leader laughed. "If you're here on behalf of the Pokémon League to retrieve the barrels of Niente gas, then you've come to the wrong place."

"Then explain those barrels over there!" Aoi demanded.

"Those were just the surplus we had left after transferring the rest to different points for pickup." the leader explained. "But seeing as you've exposed us, then we've now got no choice but to rely on our contingency. Ta ta!"

Before Aoi could ask further, a machine connected to the barrels of Niente gas started whirring, and the four members of Death Devil were Teleported away to parts unknown. Gnashing her teeth at what happened, Aoi was about to storm out of the warehouse when all the lights inside went out.

Running outside to see what had happened. Aoi could see that the area around her had gone completely dark, with the only natural light being the moon and stars. About to return to her hotel to report on her failure, she then noticed the sky above her starting to get brighter.

Looking up, Aoi saw massive wormholes appear all over the region's sky, including one over the city she was in right now. As she became transfixed by their illumination, objects began falling from them. Upon closer observation, Aoi realized that it wasn't some junk crashing down, but hordes of Ultra Beasts descending onto the region.

From a news report she had seen a few years back, Aoi remembered that a similar incident had occurred in Alola, where the supposedly benevolent Aether Foundation had caused the extradimensional Ultra Beasts to appear from wormholes and terrorize the entire region, which was thankfully stopped after a short while.

However, Opéra wasn't Alola. The lethal Niente gas had prevented any sort of Pokémon habitation on or near the region, which meant that there were no natural wild Pokémon, and none of the local population were comprised of Pokémon Trainers. With no way to contact the outside world thanks to the power outage, Aoi was starting to realize how desperate the situation was, and what Death Devil's contingency consisted of.

As the first explosions started to ring in her ears, Aoi could only say two words. "Oh, fu-"

* * *

12 hours later…

All six of her Pokémon completely exhausted, Aoi looked on at the three Nihilego they had just managed to beat with brute force. After evacuating the nearby residents to a hotel, Aoi confronted the Nihilego destroying the area with their acid in a gruelling nine-hour battle that left the surrounding blocks completely wrecked.

Knowing that the Nihilego would eventually get back up and resume their havoc, Aoi needed a way to completely restrain them. Seeing as there were no Pokémon in the region, buying Pokéballs was not an option. However, Aoi recalled something she had seen in the warehouse that could provide the solution.

Running back there with what little remained of her stamina, she looked around the room to confirm her suspicions. Going over to a cardboard box marked with the Aether Foundation's logo, she tore the top open to reveal that the entire box was filled to the brim with Beast Balls.

Knowing that they were designed for the sole purpose for capturing Ultra Beasts, Aoi was relieved that at least Death Devil weren't complete idiots with such a destructive contingency plan. Taking three, she went back to where the defeated Nihilego lay, and tapped them with one Beast Ball each, safely capturing them.

Going to the hotel where she had told the nearby residents to go to, Aoi went to the hall where most people were assembled, huddling on the floor as they looked up to her for information on what happened.

"Everyone, I have good and bad news." Aoi announced. "Though the three Ultra Beasts in this area destroyed nearly everything, they were eventually subdued and captured."

Presenting the three Beast Balls she had on hand to the crowd, they all felt glad that the situation was over for now, even when the fate of their homes was uncertain. As Aoi smiled, she felt her legs giving out, and the last thing she saw before everything went black was people rushing to her side.

* * *

Once Aoi regained consciousness, she saw that all of her Pokémon were out of their Pokéballs and being tended to by the townsfolk, and that they were currently in what looked like the hotel's presidential suite.

"How… how long was I out?" Aoi asked one of the people nearby, who was currently massaging her Banette.

"You were out for an entire day." the person answered. "During that time, we were attacked 4 times by Ultra Beasts, but the Nihilego you captured managed to repel them from this hotel successfully, so everyone's still safe."

"That's a relief." Aoi replied, taking an energy bar the person handed her and ate it. "But still, I only managed to save this area. I don't know how many more people are scared out of their minds after what happened in the rest of this city, not to mention the entire region."

"We've tried to contact the Pokémon League for help, but for some reason all communication systems are down, and those that tried to leave the region via boat have reported that there's some sort of Psychic barrier preventing them from doing so." The person sighed. "Please, Miss Pokémon Trainer. You're our only hope now."

Aoi stood up from her bed, knowing that she was the only one that could stand a chance. "I'm not the most qualified Trainer to do this, but I'll try my best to make sure that everyone can go back to their normal lives here. You have my word."

* * *

2 months later…

Taking a look outside, Aoi took some deep breaths to calm herself. With this successful capture, all of the Ultra Beasts in this city would be subdued at last. Hoping that nothing would go wrong after so many trials and errors, Aoi signalled to her Dhelmise, who used Anchor Shot to hook itself to a building opposite where Aoi was in.

Once that was done, her Runerigus layered two rounds of Toxic Spikes on the floor in front of Dhelmise, while her Dusknoir used Future Sight above that area. Next to Aoi, her Gengar floated alongside her, waiting for its opportunity to strike, and her Drifblim hovered over everything going on, ready to notify everyone present of further developments.

Scanning the area, Drifblim noticed that five Stakataka were coming their way, all of them pursuing Banette, who was dodging in and out of the ground with Phantom Force, taunting the group of Ultra Beasts as it did so.

Confirming that those were the last remaining Ultra Beasts, Drifblim floated down to where Aoi was and flashed its eyes blue. Understanding the signal, she immediately recalled all of her Pokémon present except for Gengar and Dhelmise, who still had roles to play.

As all five Stakataka charged right ahead, Gengar spat out Will-O-Wisp at them right as they tripped over Dhelmise's Anchor Shot, confining them to this area. Falling onto the Toxic Spikes, the Ultra Beasts were burned and badly Poisoned right as Dusknoir's Future Sight hit them.

The circumstances had now turned into a battle of endurance that she would easily win, Aoi withdrew her last two Pokémon and prepared five Beast Balls. Waiting for the Stakataka to faint from all the damage she had inflicted in that short moment, Aoi breathed a sigh of relief.

Hearing a crashing sound, Aoi looked outside and saw that the first Stakataka had collapsed, followed by the other four a short while later. Running outside, she immediately threw the Beast Balls she had on hand at them, successfully capturing the last remaining Ultra Beasts.

Returning back to the borders she had designated for the police to guard during her counterattack, Aoi presented the five Beast Balls she had on hand to the anticipating crowd, who had gathered once they stopped hearing the commotion outside of their homes.

"Everyone, I only have good news to announce." Aoi said with a smile on her face. "After one month of fear, I am pleased to say that all the rampaging Ultra Beasts in this city have been successfully subdued and captured. You are all now free again."

As the crowd broke into cheers of joy, Aoi slipped away in the darkness, knowing that this was only the first step in freeing the entire Opéra region from the clutches of the Ultra Beasts.

* * *

3 months later…

"Help me! Someone, please help!"

A mother hugged her young child on the floor as a Pheromosa stared over them, intrigued by this sudden action. As the people in the Opéra region had only associated Ultra Beasts with destruction and little else in the four months since they descended down onto the region, they could only respond in fear when they saw one in front of them, not knowing that they meant no harm.

"Dusknoir, Trick Room!" a voice called out. A sphere of Psychic energy extended out towards the Pheromosa as a pair of ghostly arms scooped up the mother and child, then deposited them outside the strange bubble.

Before the Pheromosa could comprehend what had just happened, it was blitzed by a grey blur zipping around the Trick Room, attacking it relentlessly with Phantom Force from all angles. The Ultra Beast tried to react, but quickly found that even performing the slightest action was now akin to doing it in resin, unable to move freely.

As the mother and child watched on, the Pheromosa was effortly demolished by the mysterious Pokémon, now lying on the floor in a crumpled heap as a Beast Ball went flying towards it, swiftly capturing the Ultra Beast. The Trick Room dissipated as the wraith-like Pokémon revealed itself to be a Banette.

"Everyone, good job!" Aoi congratulated her Pokémon as she looked at the mother and child, who were being guarded by her Runerigus. "Are you alright?" she asked them.

"Yes," the mother nodded. "Thank you very much! You saved us both back there!"

"It's nothing," Aoi replied. Over the past three months, she had went to different cities across the Opéra region, neutralizing and capturing the Ultra Beasts terrorizing the area while gaining the trust of the townsfolk. Slowly but surely, she had made her way around half of the region, creating a 'safe zone' of sorts where life was returning to normal. However, there was still a long way to go before that could be said for the entire region.

Getting the mother and child to safety, Aoi thanked the region's technological advancements for making sure that people could still survive even in this state of emergency. The automated greenhouses and cloning laboratories in each city provided a stable source of food that was directly delivered to people's homes through drones, while the computerized power plants kept most places electrified.

Even in a crisis like this, human resilience always found a way.

Once Aoi confirmed that there were no other Ultra Beasts in the area, she went back to the hotel she was staying in. Tired after defeating a large swath of Ultra Beasts in this city, she just wanted to rest before continuing with what she needed to do. She was still human, after all.

Entering the hotel lobby, Aoi was greeted not by a receptionist, but by someone sitting on the sofa wearing a Tuba-kun mascot suit.

Not knowing what to do or think, Aoi was left standing there until the person inside the Tuba-kun suit began to speak. "Ms. Saitou, good to see that you have safely returned."

"Who-who are you?" Aoi asked. Even though she had only told several people in each city her name, there was no one here that asked for it, and travel between cities was near-impossible barring heavy protection.

"I have been watching you." 'Tuba-kun' answered. "Your deeds in this region will not go unnoticed. That is, if you still survive after everything is said and done."

Placing three objects on the table in front of the sofa, 'Tuba-kun' gestured at them. "These are a Key Stone, Gengarite, and Bannetite. While I regret that I was not able to give them to you earlier, I hope that you use them to their fullest potential for what is yet to come."

Before Aoi could ask anything else, 'Tuba-kun' suddenly stood up. "Farewell, Ms. Saitou. All the best towards you."

With that, 'Tuba-kun' stood up and headed towards the lift lobby and entered an elevator, leaving Aoi dumbfounded at what happened. Picking up the three stones to see if it was all just an illusion, Aoi confirmed that everything that just happened was real as she felt the stones' smooth texture as she swished them around in her palm, then looked at them and confirmed that they were indeed real Mega Stones.

Not knowing what else to do with them, she put the Key Stone in her pocket and sent out her Gengar and Banette, presenting Tuba-kun's gifts to them. "So, basically I just got these Mega Stones from a mysterious person wearing a Tuba-kun mascot suit. I don't know where they got them from, but I do know they're real, so we should use them to save this region, right?"

Seeing her Pokémon nod at her suggestion, Aoi was relieved. "Well then, let's get some rest. We've still got more people to save."

* * *

2 months later…

Aoi stared at the power plant in front of her. According to the sensor she had in her hand, this was the source of the Psychic barrier that had prevented communications between Opéra and the outside world, turning this region into a sealed bubble for nine months.

After managing to defeat the last of the Ultra Beasts two weeks ago, Aoi had discovered that contact with the outside world had not yet been reestablished, since the Psychic shield was still up.

Consulting with the region's experts, Aoi concluded that this barrier must have been established by either an extremely powerful machine or a Pokémon. Borrowing a Psychic energy sensor from one of the scientists, she scanned the entire region until she found the origin of this immense power.

Not knowing what lay inside, Aoi opened the door and stepped in, the ominous creaking noise making her feel uneasy. She trudged through the corridors and followed the sensor's pinging, the machine's noise being the only sound in the cold, dark, and empty rooms.

As she turned a corner, Aoi consulted a map of the power plant on the wall and realized that she was nearing the main reactor room. Hearing the pinging get more rapid, she took some deep breaths to steel herself and gingerly opened the door to the reactor.

Upon entering, all that welcomed her was a behemoth of pitch black.

In this darkness, the being's crystalline body did not reflect any light. Its head had a large protrusion jutting out, with three large spikes on its top. Disproportionately massive hands with three claws each stretched out from its body on twig-thin arms, and its three-toed feet were resting on the ground, clearly exhausted from something.

Knowing that the only way out was either by dying or defeating this monster, Aoi wisely chose the latter option, sending out all six of her Pokémon at once. As they faced the Ultra Beast, its eye suddenly glowed a multitude of colors before it rose up from the ground and roared, sending shockwaves across the entire room.

Bracing herself with her arms, Aoi faced the Ultra Beast and began to give out orders to her Pokémon. "Dhelmise, Anchor Shot!"

Dhelmise shot up and swung its chains around the Ultra Beast's legs before anchoring itself into a nearby wall, severely hindering its mobility. Now that her Pokémon could attack the Ultra Beast directly, Aoi executed the next step of her plan. "Runerigus, Power Split and Guard Split!"

Levitating to where the Ultra Beast was chained, Runerigus cackled as it lashed out its spectral arms around the Ultra Beast, Psychic energy being transferred between them as their overall power was averaged out.

Even as its strength was sapped, the Ultra Beast cried with rage as it shot out laser beams from its eyes, impacting the floor with such force that it even ripped apart the earth beneath it. Her Runerigus barely managing to float down in time to block a shot heading in her direction, Aoi recalled it as she glanced at her Dusknoir. "Curse, now!"

As Dusknoir summoned a stake and impaled itself with it, a similar stake slammed itself into the Ultra Beast, who cried out in pain as its health began to slowly drain. Plunging to the ground, its hands clawed at the puddles of liquified Niente gas as it began to seep into its body.

The back of the Ultra Beast's head glowing a blinding white, Aoi knew that something extremely bad was going to happen if she did not defeat it quickly. Calling her Gengar and Banette to her side, Aoi took her Key Stone out of her pocket and gripped it, sending her thoughts and feelings directly to her Pokémon.

Similar to the Ultra Beast, Banette and Gengar flashed white before Mega Evolving, their strengthened forms gracing the ground with their ethereal presence. Behind them, Aoi felt weak at the knees, the strain of Mega Evolving two Pokémon at once getting to her.

Feeling her strength being drained, Aoi remembered that the reason League rules only permitted Mega Evolving one Pokémon per battle was because of the sheer willpower required of both Trainer and Pokémon to perform Mega Evolution. If the Trainer split their concentration between two Pokémon, their stamina would decrease twice as quickly.

Even so, Aoi knew that she had no other choice other than to perform this extremely risky maneuver. Time was slowly ticking on the clock, and she didn't want to run out of it first. Starting to keel from the intense pressure, Aoi still managed to move her mouth enough to give out commands. "Gengar, Shadow Ball! Banette, Phantom Force!"

As her two attackers swept the Ultra Beast with their powerful attacks, Aoi looked at her Drifblim, who was busy shielding her Dhelmise with its body to prevent the Ultra Beast from defeating it and fleeing the power plant. Knowing that it was getting exhausted from being continuously on defense, Aoi gave it one last order. "Destiny Bond!"

The last of the liquified Niente gas entered the Ultra Beast's body, causing it to illuminate the room with the same white light from the back of its head. Scattering lasers across the room as it expelled excess energy, a stray shot hitting Drifblim as a ghostly energy swirled between them. Finally defeated after standing on guard for so long, Drifblim tumbled to the ground, but its sacrifice was not in vain.

Just as the Ultra Beast seemed to gain control of its light, its body suddenly went dark again as it collapsed, brought down by Drifblim's final move. With one last burst of strength, Aoi flung a Beast Ball at the defeated Ultra Beast. While the ball soared through the air, she recalled all of her remaining Pokémon as she finally fainted, completely exhausted from the battle's strain.

* * *

Aoi blinked. The ceiling in front of her was unfamiliar, as with the room's smell. Realizing that she was in a hospital bed, she immediately rose up, but was stopped by a hand in front of her face.

"Uh-uh, Aoi-chan. You've been out for two days now, so you still need to rest." the voice of Asuka Tanaka teased her. "Mega Evolving two Pokémon at once? I'm surprised you still managed to survive after that."

"Ms. Tanaka? Why are you here?" Aoi asked. "Did the Psychic barrier around the region disappear? Are the people safe?"

"Wow, you've only been awake for thirty seconds and I get all these questions hurled at me." Tanaka dryly remarked. "Let's start from the beginning."

"After you defeated and captured the Ultra Beast in the power plant, which was a Necrozma, the Psychic barrier suddenly disintegrated, pinpointing the cause on Necrozma." Tanaka answered. "Immediately after communications were restored, teams of rescuers began Teleporting into the island, only to find that there were almost no casualties from the Ultra Beasts during the entire nine months."

"Asking around, we found out that you were responsible for pacifying the entire region over this course of time, and by triangulating where the Psychic energy was coming from, we were able to locate and rescue you before you died from a lack of brain activity." she continued.

Seeing Aoi's worried reaction, Tanaka laughed. "Don't worry. Your Pokémon are all fine, but due to fighting the Ultra Beasts so much, they seemed to have absorbed some of their extradimensional energy according to our scanners, making them permanently stronger than normal."

"Which brings me to my main point." Tanaka concluded. "One of the Elite Four resigned a few weeks ago to further his career as a percussionist. In recognition of saving the entire Opéra region from the wrath of the Ultra Beasts and defeating Necrozma, you, Aoi Saitou, are eligible to be an Elite Four member without further consideration. Do you accept this offer?"

Hearing that last part, Aoi fainted again for the second time in two days.

"Oh dear, I may have overdone it." Tanaka sighed.

* * *

"And then what happened?" Kumiko asked.

Aoi laughed. "Well, obviously I said yes, otherwise I wouldn't be here, but for the next three months after that I was busy with the Elite Four induction and training stuff, so that's why I couldn't contact you even after I left Opéra."

"I may already have said it for the second time, but welcome back, Aoi." Knowing the real reason behind her friend's disappearance and the sacrifice behind it, Kumiko was glad to have her friend back.

The two friends hugged each other, but Reina interrupted them after a while. "I hate to break up this reunion, but the matchmaking results are going to be announced soon, so we'd better get going."

Slightly embarrassed about forgetting her duties, Aoi abruptly broke off her hug with Kumiko. "Oh, that's right! I lost track of time there! Sorry about that!"

Waving to the two girls as they left, Aoi called out to both of them "Good luck in your battles!"

* * *

Assembling at the stadium's pitch, Kumiko and Reina looked at the gigantic display in front of them, where the results of the personalized matchmaking were going to be displayed. As the timer ticked down in front of them, Nakaseko stepped up with a microphone in hand.

"Sorry to keep you all waiting!" she announced. "And the first opponents you'll be facing are-"

Gesturing above her towards the display, Kumiko saw her own name and Reina's paired together, and made a face of both disgust and shock when she noticed who they were up against.

"Geh. Shuichi?"

* * *

A/N: With this chapter, I think I'm the first Hibike writer to publish a fic (or at least a 5000-word chapter of a multi-chapter fic) about Aoi. Originally, Aoi's backstory was going to be a throwaway line said by Reina to Kumiko as a justification for how Aoi became so strong (which some of you might also be wondering about), then the tournament would begin. However, the more I thought about it, the more interesting it became, so I decided to expand her backstory into a full-length chapter.

Funnily enough, Aoi is also the first character to have a Pokémon from the eighth generation/Sword and Shield, in the form of Runerigus. Originally, I had planned for her to have a Cofagrigus, but after seeing what Runerigus looked like, I thought that it had a better design, so I swapped it out with minimal issues. Besides, the Ground-type allows for more interesting battle strategies.

Now on to the bad/good news. I will be taking a one-week break (again), but this time because I am going on a trip to Japan with my family starting tomorrow. More specifically, the places I will be going to include Kyoto and Uji, so I will (obviously) be doing a Hibike pilgrimage. If you want to follow my journey to Uji, you can check my Twitter ( tekketsu08) during the next week.

Assuming that everything goes as planned, the next chapter will release on December 26th (Boxing Day), though I am aware that it will be Asuka's birthday (and Christmas) the previous day, so if there is high enough demand, I will post a special Asuka chapter, just like the one for Nozomi previously.

Anyways, now that I'm finished with all my notes and announcements, here's three lines from the next chapter to keep you hooked.

Seeing the predicament they were in, Reina forcefully stomped on Shuichi's foot after she sat down.

"You fell for it, fool! Thunder Cross Split Attack!"

"A Thunder Stone?" Reina questioned.

Stay tuned!


	20. Chapter 20: Beethoven's Ninth

_Many months later…_

"It sure is a lovely night tonight, Mizore? Wouldn't you say that it's the perfect way to end the year?"

Turning to look at Nozomi, Mizore thought that even though the dazzling sky above them was certainly beautiful tonight, especially when observing them atop her house's balcony, nothing could ever match the being of pure splendor that was her girlfriend.

"I agree." she curtly responded. Though she and Nozomi had confessed their love to each other and had been dating for several months now, Mizore still hadn't got over her normally non-talkative tendencies yet.

Another thing to add on her relationship checklist.

"But I think that you're more prettier than even the brightest star shining up there." Nozomi added, impulsively spitting out what came to her mind without thinking through the consequences.

Upon hearing her loved one make such a romantic remark, Mizore had the sudden urge to kiss Nozomi on the lips right there and right now, but refrained from doing so to not infringe on their personal space. Instead, a luminescent blush formed on her face, revealing her true feelings with more clarity than any words or actions could.

"Aww, Mizore." Nozomi happily sighed. "You're so cute when you blush like that. Who could resist such an adorable face like yours?"

"_You did._" Mizore inwardly thought to herself. It had taken every ounce of her extremely limited social intelligence not to blurt those two words out, even though they had been the truth from middle school all the way up to a few months ago. After all, she didn't want to ruin the pleasant mood she was sharing with Nozomi.

Once again, Nozomi was oblivious to Mizore's true feelings in the moment, instead continuing to be her usual self. "So, any New Year's resolutions or anything like that you want to make, Mizore?"

Mizore already had one etched deep into her heart: staying with Nozomi forever. However, no matter how much she tried to muster up the courage to say those words out loud, her poor social skills dashed any attempts of her actually turning them from thoughts to speech.

"You're still thinking, huh?" Nozomi mused for a moment, then continued on. "Well, my New Year's resolution is to try and keep up with you, Mizore. I know it sounds impossible to do, but I'm going to try my best!"

Mizore processed Nozomi's resolution for a moment, then came to a conclusion. After all that had happened in the previous months, it seemed that she had accomplished more than Nozomi in every aspect of their life that was comparable, from music to Pokémon battling, leaving her girlfriend hopelessly outclassed in those regards.

"Good luck." Though those were the only two words that Mizore could say in the heat of the moment, she said them with the utmost sincerity from the bottom of her heart. However, her flat tone of voice betrayed her intentions, making the wrong impression on Nozomi.

"Was that a little sarcasm I detected there, Mizore?" Nozomi asked, slightly tilting her head. "That doesn't seem like you. Something on your mind?"

"I'm sorry." Mizore quietly responded. Though she was disappointed that her lover had not taken her seriously yet again, Nozomi had got much closer to the mark than she had anticipated. After all, there were reasons that Mizore had invited Nozomi to spend New Year's Eve at her home with her family.

"It's OK." Nozomi admitted, then checked the time on her oversized pink wristwatch. "Look, Mizore! There's only half an hour left till the New Year! Aren't you excited?"

"I am." Her heart thumping, Mizore was currently feeling a blend of nervousness and excitement gathering inside her in anticipation of what she was about to do next. She had been planning this very moment for several months now, and though getting what she wanted had taken several weeks more than what she predicted, Mizore was still overjoyed that it coincided with the beginning of a new year.

Praying to all the Legendary and Mythical Pokémon above (especially to the ones she had met on her journey) before taking several deep breaths, Mizore knew that it was now or never for her to seal her destiny.

Abandoning all semblance of the rational thought that had once dominated her decisions, Mizore dropped to one knee and took out a small box, completely taking Nozomi by surprise.

"Mizore, what-" she began, but was immediately stopped by her lover opening the box to reveal what was inside.

"Nozomi Kasaki, you are my love, you are my life." Mizore blurted out without hesitation. "Will you marry me?"

Nozomi opened her mouth, but no words came out. Until very recently, she had thought of Mizore as simply a friend, though maybe a bit more depending on the circumstances. It was only during that tumultuous period several months ago when Mizore had chosen to add another element of chaos to it, confessing her love right there and then.

Happily dating for a few months, Nozomi seldom wondered about what came next, choosing instead to focus on the blissful present with her girlfriend. After all, they were still young, so there was plenty of time to think about their futures before moving towards any specific direction.

Wanting their moments of joy to last forever, Nozomi subconsciously wished for things to never change again, for fear of having Mizore let go from her again just like what happened after they graduated from middle school.

It seemed that Mizore had other plans.

Finally managing to recollect her thoughts again, Nozomi couldn't deny the truth that had been in plain sight all along anymore. Looking Mizore directly in her lustrous eyes, Nozomi uttered the words that were now a part of who she was. "Yes, Mizore Yoroizuka. You are my other half, and always have been. I will marry you."

Though this was the response that Mizore had been expecting, her eyes still widened upon hearing those words come out of Nozomi's mouth. Tears began to well up in her eyes, and she dropped the box she was holding before leaping up and embracing Nozomi in a big hug, taking her fianceé by surprise.

Wrapping her arms around Mizore in response, Nozomi could also feel her eyes get a little bit moist as well. Not only would Mizore stay with her forever, she would now do so not as a close friend or a girlfriend, but as her wife.

After a while that seemed to last for all eternity, the happy couple finally broke off their hug, though both wished that it could have lasted for just one second longer. Picking up the box the Mizore had dropped, Nozomi looked inside to see a ring embedded with a Key Stone and an unknown Mega Stone nestled within light blue velvet the color of her eyes.

Without any words, Mizore gently took the box from Nozomi's hand and plucked the ring from the indent in the velvet that held it in, before slipping it onto Nozomi's left ring finger. Upon closer inspection, Nozomi saw that the ring had her name engraved into it with pink letters in both English and kanji.

"The ring you are currently wearing forms a matching set with mine" Mizore stated, showing the ring on her left ring finger, which also had Mizore's name but in light blue letters. "I had these custom-made a month ago. Do you like them?"

"Mi- Mizore. I don't know what to say." Nozomi finally felt her voice returning to her again, though she was quavering a little. "All this time… I didn't know you thought of me like this all along. I mean, I could accept you being my friend. Girlfriend? Yeah, sure! But wanting to stick with me forever? That's… That's beyond even my wildest dreams!"

"Are you… are you doubting me?" Mizore questioned. "I've always wanted to be with you, Nozomi. Everything I did, I did it for you. From playing the oboe to accompanying you all across the region, I've only had you in my mind every step of the way."

"No, Mizore, I'm obviously not doubting you." Nozomi reassured her. "It's just… I can't believe that we're already at this stage in our relationship. I know we're moving very fast, but I don't want to stop, because that's the only way I'll have any hope of catching up to you."

"I understand." Mizore responded. "That's why I decided to give you another gift aside from the ring, which was also in the box."

Giving the box to Nozomi, Mizore silently hoped that all this effort was worth it in the end. The Mega Stone was the most difficult object to source, and it had involved calling in a few favors from people she knew, but only Nozomi was capable of using it to its fullest extent.

Taking a closer look, Nozomi saw that the Mega Stone was pink in color, with the exception of a section in the middle which shone white and blue. Though she had only seen this particular stone once before when she was loaned it for a battle, there was no mistaking what it could be.

"Is this… Is this Altarianite, Mizore?" Nozomi tentatively asked her fianceé. "But… how? I can't believe that you would go this far for me."

"It is." Mizore confirmed. "The idea for this gift first came to me back when we saved those Quagsire and Wooper from the collapsing dam. When you were glide down on your Altaria's back, you were the most majestic and regal person ever in that moment."

"Originally, this was supposed to be your birthday present." Mizore explained further, unable to stop the torrent of words from washing out of her mouth, expressing her innermost desires. "But due to some complications, I only managed to obtain it last week. It is my only wish that by using this gift, you can finally stand by my side, no matter where we go."

"Can I… Can I try it out, Mizore?" Nozomi was internally ecstatic at the prospect of being able to be regarded as an equal by her love, but couldn't find a method to express her feelings externally.

After a small nod from Mizore, Nozomi took out one of her Pokéballs and sent out her Altaria Elo. Spreading his wide wings out for a moment and flapping them in the air, Elo then made an attempt to perch on Nozomi's left shoulder.

For a brief moment, Elo's endeavour seemed to be a success. In that miraculous instant, Mizore thought that Nozomi looked absolutely handsome, with Elo's white plumage and blue skin perfectly complementing the blue bomber jacket and pale yellow scarf that Nozomi was wearing. It was simply a stunning sight to behold.

However, due to how big an Altaria was, Nozomi immediately lost her balance afterwards, stumbling towards the left before managing to regain her footing. In the chaos, Elo jumped off from Nozomi's shoulder and managed to gracefully glide towards the ground, doing a perfect landing before folding away his wings again.

"Silly Elo, you're not a Swablu anymore." Nozomi playfully chided her first Pokémon, then thought of something. "Mizore, do you have a way for Elo to hold the Altarianite? It may be possible to place it inside his plumage, but I don't want something so precious to fall out all of a sudden."

Mizore wordlessly undid a bracelet on her left wrist and handed it to Nozomi, who realized that it had a metal portion that could fit a Mega Stone.

"Did you also plan this in advance as well?" Nozomi was curious, to which Mizore simply nodded. Affixing the Altarianite to the bracelet, then tying it around Elo's neck, Nozomi stepped back before letting her feelings take over. Though she had already Mega Evolved Elo once before, it was during a major emergency, so Nozomi couldn't really slow down and process what was really going on in that moment.

During that brief interval of bonding between Trainer and Pokémon, she couldn't really described what she experienced, but she instinctively knew that the positive memories she shared with Elo were part of them. From back when he was just a Swablu chosen by Nozomi to be her first partner to helping land the finishing blow on a Legendary Pokémon when Mega Evolved, Nozomi saw it all in that instant.

When she returned back to reality, it was clear that the Mega Evolution had succeeded. Elo's body had grown much larger, and his now baby-blue skin was covered by even more snow-white feathers, with his head now topped off by a tuft of them. Dazzled by Elo's sheer majesty, Nozomi went closer to him and noticed a detail she had overlooked the first time around.

"Elo's now large enough for two people to ride on him." Nozomi informed Mizore, then quickly came to a conclusion about what she could do with this fact. Or rather, what Mizore had planned for her to do with this fact. Hopping onto Elo, she then stretched her arm out. "Do you want to ride with me?"

"Gladly." Taking Nozomi's outstretched hand, Mizore let herself get pulled on before naturally falling into her love's warm body. With a call from Nozomi, Elo flapped his cloudy wings and took to the skies, carrying the lovestruck duo on his back.

As the ground beneath them got smaller and smaller, the only thing that remained constant from Mizore's point of view was Nozomi's beauty, acting as a focal point for her eyes to fix on. It seemed that this was also the case for Nozomi as well, and the pair stared into each other's eyes for a timeless moment until they could hear some noises coming from down below.

"Looks like it's almost the new year now." Nozomi realized, checking her watch to confirm the fact. "Elo, can you descend a little to where we can see the fireworks?"

With a melodious coo, Nozomi's Altaria tucked his wings in for a moment before spreading them back out again, his soft down preventing either Nozomi or Mizore from feeling any sort of impact after the change in altitude.

The chants down on the ground growing louder and louder, so did the rush of adrenaline going to Mizore's head from the events of this beautiful night. Forgetting to think for what seemed like the billionth time again, what she said next was the culmination of everything she had felt tonight, summed up in three little words.

"I love you."

"I love you too." Nozomi thoughtlessly responded, though no amount of brainpower was necessary for her to express her true feelings.

Immediately after those words escaped from her mouth, Mizore sealed them back in again with a kiss on her lips, taking Nozomi by surprise before she returned the favor wholeheartedly.

The entire world seemed to melt away between the two lovers soaring in the sky, their bond finally affirmed and consolidated permanently as the New Year was rung in beneath them through fireworks and cheers, as if to celebrate their moment of joy.

* * *

A/N: I lied. I posted this chapter on December 31st, the day before New Years, so I technically broke my promise.

More to follow here after January 1st, so stay tuned!Originally, I was planning to release a normal chapter on Thursday, but Taka (no. 1 Nozomi stan) informed me that she had commissioned a fanart of Nozomi with an Altaria right after my laptop was fixed. The reason this was special was because I had suggested to her earlier that a Pokémon Nozomi would have was Altaria, one of my personal headcanons that I later integrated into this fic.

Since that fanart was based off of my idea, I decided to write this special chapter as a tie-in to ring in the New Year, right when that artwork was released. Set after the main story ends, it can also be read as a standalone along with the other Nozomi/Mizore chapter and serves as a continuation of that story.

Anyways, now that I'm done talking here, go follow Taka ( takasakinozomi) on Twitter if you haven't done so already and have a Happy New Year!

The next chapter of To Be A Solister will release on Thursday January 9th as usual, so stay tuned and watch Liz and the Blue Bird!


	21. Chapter 21: Let the Battles Begin 1

Upon seeing that Shuichi was one of their opponents, Reina clenched her fist tightly. "That Tsukamoto again, huh? Looks like those goons from last time didn't rough him up hard enough. I'll finish what they started."

Kumiko was also surprised at this result, but for different reasons. She hadn't heard from Shuichi after he tagged along with those escaping goons wherever they went, so he must have somehow found a way to escape later on. Besides, she had been worried about her childhood friend, so hearing that he was alright made her feel relieved.

"The first battle will begin in ten minutes," Nakaseko announced, breaking Kumiko off her train of thought. "Will the participants of this match begin their preparations?"

"Let's go, Kumiko." Reina remarked. "Our battle is the second-to-last, so we can observe our opponents and strategize while we wait."

Heading up with Reina to the participants' reserved seats, Kumiko still couldn't shake the thought of facing Shuichi from her head. Even though she had always won against him every time they faced each other, Kumiko wondered if he had grown stronger by escaping from those goons, who were giving them a hard time back in the maze.

Arriving at their spectator seats, Kumiko and Reina sat down and immediately found out that they were sitting next to Shuichi and his partner, the seating clearly arranged by the order the participants were facing each other. Seeing the predicament they were in, Reina forcefully stomped on Shuichi's foot after she sat down.

"Ow! What was that for?" Shuichi asked.

"I don't know, maybe _TRAUMATIZING KUMIKO_?" Reina angrily replied, the rage seething through her voice as Kumiko held back the rabid Reina with a cooldown hug, in hopes of preventing the situation from escalating further.

"Look, we'd better focus on the upcoming battles, OK?" Kumiko consoled her special one. "That's what you said yourself, right?"

"Yes, let's." Reina replied, shuffling back to be closer to Kumiko's side, but not before giving a frostbite-cold glare towards Shuichi, who instantly recoiled at the sight of such a beautiful girl looking at him like that.

Looking down, Kumiko saw the first four participants enter the battlefield, and was surprised when she recognized Nozomi and Mizore standing on one side as a team. After pointing them out to Reina, Kumiko then saw that Nozomi had sent out a Togedemaru and Mizore had sent out a Mimikyu, two Pokémon of theirs she had never seen before.

Once the battle began, the duo leapt into action as Togedemaru spun at high speeds around the battlefield for both offense and mobility while Mimikyu was stretching out its spectral arm to attack their opponents, who seemed unequipped to deal with this all-range strategy. Kumiko noted that Mizore was using her oboe to give commands to her Mimikyu in contrast to Nozomi, who seemed content with just vocally commanding her Togedemaru.

Shortly after it started, the battle drew to a rapid close. Togedemaru crashed into the enemy Umbreon with a Wild Charge, and Mimikyu used an enlarged Shadow Claw to grab the opposing Sylveon and slam it into the ground.

"Homura Akemi and Madoka Kaname of Team 2 have been eliminated. Nozomi Kasaki and Mizore Yoroizuka of Team 1 will advance to the next round."

As the two losers recalled their Pokémon, Kumiko could sense that something or someone was getting closer to her. Being blinded all of a sudden, she could only rely on her sense of hearing for what came next. "Guess who~?"

"Natsuki, is that you?" Kumiko calmly asked, having all the fear robbed from her after Aoi's much scarier jumpscare, which caused the normally playful Natsuki to momentarily flinch. The Kumiko she had known would have cried out and leapt into the air, but the girl whose eyes she was covering with her hands seemed unaffected by all this.

"Geez kid, no need to go all ice-cold on me," Natsuki remarked. "Looks like Kousaka has been rubbing off on you. Maybe in more ways than one, if you know what I mean."

"You were too obvious with your actions." Kumiko replied, having learnt how and why she had detected Natsuki from Aoi's actions. "Even a deaf or blind person could notice the breezes created by your actions, and you're the only sort of person I know who pulls this type of trick on me."

"All right, all right." Natsuki conceded. "I admit defeat. You win this time, Kumiko, but I'll get you even better the next time we meet again!"

"Will you stop with those antics of yours?" Kumiko heard Yuuko's shouting ring in her ears. "We were lucky enough to enter this invitational, and the first thing you do is try and socialize with Kumiko? Get back here and come strategize with me! We need solid battle plans if we want to win!"

Dragging Natsuki away by the collar of her shirt, Kumiko and Reina sweatdropped at Natsuki and Yuuko's behaviour. It seemed that no matter the circumstances, Natsuki and Yuuko would always fight like Growlithe and Mankey.

After Natsuki and Yuuko left, Kumiko remembered something about the battle that she found confusing. Turning to Reina, Kumiko posed her question. "So we can only use one Pokémon for our battles?"

"Correct," Reina answered. "And we can't change what Pokémon we use between battles, so we'd better think about who we should pair up to make the most effective team."

Kumiko pondered for a moment, thinking of the various combinations their Pokémon could be used in, then settled on the most logical option.

"We should use Orpheus and Eurydice, since they're siblings," Kumiko suggested. "Even though we've always used Marcato and Idina during our previous Double Battles, we made those decisions under pressure, so we sent out our strongest Pokémon back then. Besides, Grass-type and Ice-type moves don't really have much synergy between them."

"That's a good idea." Reina was pleased that Kumiko had came to the same conclusions as her. Though all their other Pokémon had more raw power, Orpheus and Eurydice would naturally be more coordinated, and Reina was also eager to test out the results of their training over the past two days.

As the next four battles passed by without much fanfare, Kumiko and Reina became interested in what was happening on the battlefield again when it was Natsuki and Yuuko's turn to battle. With both girls sending out their Meowstic, Reina took note of their strategy.

"So they decided to use their own Psychic-type pair as well," she remarked. "That makes sense, since paired-up Psychic-type Pokémon are mentally linked between themselves, making them more coordinated and cooperative with each other when they battle together."

However, the same could not be said of their Trainers. While Heart and Soul were moving in sync while battling their opponents, Natsuki and Yuuko were butting heads and bickering like they normally did. Strangely, this did not seem to affect their awareness of the battlefield's situation, and even seem to somehow increase it at points, the two calling out attacks in perfect sync.

With such impressive teamwork (despite seeming like the opposite on the surface), Natsuki and Yuuko handily beat their opponents back, their Pokémon's Psychic powers allowing them to pull off tactical maneuvers from two points of attack that would be otherwise impossible.

One simultaneous Psychic blast that slammed both their opponents' Mantine and Lanturn together later, it was clear that Natsuki and Yuuko's bizarre battling method had worked in their favor as their opponents lost.

"Yuu Koito and Touko Nanami of Team 11 have been eliminated. Natsuki Nakagawa and Yuuko Yoshikawa of Team 12 will advance to the next round." the referee announced.

Kumiko was surprised by how deadly and effective Natsuki and Yuuko were when they worked together, but those thoughts quickly vanished from her mind as Reina called her. "Kumiko, it's our time to battle now. Let's show that Tsukamoto that no one messes with us and gets away with it."

Heading down towards the battlefield, Kumiko was a little bit nervous. While she knew how Shuichi performed in battle, she had absolutely no idea about who he was partnering with for this tournament. If he found somebody whose battling prowess surpassed even Reina's, then they were going to have a bad time.

Kumiko prayed that the specialized matchmaking was correct.

* * *

Once Kumiko and Reina stepped onto the solid rock of the battlefield, Kumiko immediately realized that unlike the enclosed environments of the Gyms or wide open spaces of nature, this stadium gave their Pokémon a lot of space to move around, but if they got too accustomed to this sudden increase in space, their Pokémon would easily step out of bounds on accident.

Facing Shuichi and his partner on the other side of the battlefield, Kumiko and Reina drew Orpheus and Eurydice's Pokéballs before throwing them out, prompting their opponents to do the same as well. As the two Ralts materialized on the battlefield, a Magnemite on Shuichi's quarter and an Elekid on his partner's greeted them.

"All four Trainers' Pokémon are now on the battlefield," the referee proclaimed. "Battle start!"

"Magnet, Sonic Boom!" Shuichi yelled. Kumiko let out a sigh mentally as she realized that this poor Magnemite was yet another Pokémon subject to Shuichi's horrible naming skills, but didn't notice its attack travelling directly towards Orpheus, still stuck in her thoughts. At the last moment, Eurydice managed to grab him and Teleport them both away just as the attack was about to connect, causing Kumiko to realize what she just missed.

"Why didn't you command Orpheus?" Reina asked, a slight hint of disapproval in her voice. Afraid of making her special one disappointed, Kumiko quickly apologized.

"So-sorry. I was just thinking about Shuichi back then," she answered. Whatever warmth that was left in Reina's eyes quickly vanished, causing Kumiko to flinch.

"The only thing you'll think about Tsukamoto from now on is how delicious his tears of misery will be when we defeat him." Reina's cold tone seemed to translate over to her trumpet playing as she played Ave Maria.

Eurydice fired a blast of Psychic that hit the opponent's Elekid straight on, sending it flying back. Knowing that she needed to get back into the battle, Kumiko decided to use the results of the training she did with Reina as revenge on the person who distracted her. "Orpheus, Fire Punch!"

Using one of the new moves that Reina had taught him yesterday, Orpheus' right arm lit up in flames as he used his Psychic energy to generate friction, heating it up until it combusted. For some reason, he had gotten the essentials of this move quicker than Eurydice, who was still struggling with channeling Fire-type energy.

Stretching his lit-up fist downwards, he then Teleported directly below Magnet and delivered an incendiary uppercut directly at its exposed underbelly, sending the Magnemite flying straight up in the air. As Magnet came plummeting back down again, it didn't make any attempt to readjust itself in the process, meaning that it had already fainted from the super-effective attack on impact.

Sighing, Shuichi recalled his Pokémon in midair and turned to his partner. "Sorry, Chikao. I guess I grossly underestimated how strong my friend was, even after battling against her twice before."

"Don't worry," Chikao replied. "I'll make sure that your sacrifice won't be in vain. Elekid, drop kick!"

Reina was confused as to what Shuichi's partner meant by that as his Elekid rushed towards Eurydice and jumped in the air. Rapidly descending downwards at an angle with both legs aimed towards her, Reina could only give Eurydice a spur-of-the-moment command. "Spread both its legs out with your arms!"

Though the wording was a bit complex, Eurydice understood her Trainer's orders, catching Elekid's legs with the tips of her arms and spreading them out in a split. However, Chikao smirked at the predicament his Pokémon was caught in, clearly having got what he wanted. "You fell for it, fool! Thunder Cross Split Attack!"

As Elekid placed its arms into a Cross Chop, both of them lit up with the Electric energy of Thunder Punch. Shuichi grinned at the sheer audacity of his partner's plan as he realized the genius behind it. "Incredible! This technique allows him to attack and keep his opponent from defending with their arms! It's a perfect offense and defense!"

Unfortunately for Shuichi, his ecstasy was short-lived as Reina gave Eurydice her next order. "Ice Punch, attacca!"

Ice-type energy began to gather on Eurydice's arms, but she channeled it into Elekid instead of focusing it into herself, leaving the Electric-type Pokémon frozen solid in the middle of her arms. Now that their only opponent was disabled, Reina turned to Kumiko, who nodded as she understood what Reina was planning to do.

Looking at Orpheus, Kumiko saw that he was also raring to go, wanting to finish this battle as soon as possible. "Rondo finale, con fuoco!"

Orpheus Teleported and grabbed Elekid from Eurydice's arms, then warped away again and reappeared in the sky above the battlefield. As gravity began to take its toll, he lit up both of his arms with Fire Punch and began to spin around, the resulting effect being a drill of flame in midair.

Before he hit the ground, Orpheus Teleported one final time and ended up next to Eurydice, as they watched the resulting incendiary impact with their Trainers, Elekid trapped inside the whirlwind of fire. Once the blaze had dissipated, it was apparent that Elekid could not continue fighting in its current state.

"Shuichi Tsukamoto and Chikao Takigawa of Team 14 have been eliminated. Kumiko Oumae and Reina Kousaka of Team 13 will advance to the next round." the referee announced.

"See? I told you." Reina addressed Kumiko, who was still looking at the smoking crater in the middle of the battlefield as a Geodude used its lithokinesis to repair the ground. "From now on, you'll only associate Tsukamoto with the futility of always winning against him."

* * *

Settling back into their assigned seats after getting their Pokémon healed, Kumiko now noticed that Reina was now facing Shuichi was a smug look on her face. Even as her special one was goading her childhood friend, Kumiko still wanted to know what had happened to him after they had separated a few days ago. "How did you shake off those goons you Teleported along with?"

"Well, they were returning back to their base in this city," Shuichi explained. "But since they were so surprised that I managed to tag along with them, they let me go as an apology, and even gave me Magnet, who they found abandoned in an alleyway."

"Huh, never knew that even goons like them could be so kind-hearted." Kumiko commented, surprised at how events had turned out from there.

"Oh, I just remembered this one strange thing." Shuichi added. "Before I left, I met this girl that looked like you in a ponytail who introduced herself as their boss. She gave me two passes to this invitational and told me to find a friend to join with. Since I didn't know where you were, I decided to invite Chikao, since he lived here in Edian City."

For some reason, Kumiko's mind flashed back to the girl running the lottery stall where she and Reina had won their passes for this invitational. Reina had remarked that they looked quite similar, and Kumiko couldn't help but agree. If the lottery girl and the girl in Shuichi's story were one and the same, then what was this invitational's connection to those goons?

Her mind trying to grasp at straws that may or may not have existed, Kumiko shoved those thoughts out of their mind as her focus shifted back to the final battle of the first round. While she didn't know the participants on one side of the battlefield at all, Kumiko could instantly recognize the two girls on the other team in a heartbeat.

"Hazuki? Midori?" she exclaimed. After leaving them behind in Onic City to go with Nozomi across Reed Forest, Kumiko was surprised that she had been reunited with her first travelling companions by a stroke of fate.

"Who are they?" Reina asked, confused as to why Kumiko called out two random names all of a sudden.

"They're two girls I rescued from a Poliwrath shortly after I parted ways with you at Dacap Town." Kumiko explained. "I journeyed with them all the way to Onic Town, then split up with them after I got my first Gym Badge while they didn't."

"That's interesting," Reina noted. "I recall that Nakagawa told me something about them when we first met, but I'd never expect seeing them here. Let's see how they perform."

As their opponents sent out a Torterra and a Smeargle, she saw that Hazuki and Midori had sent out an Eevee and a Helioptile respectively, two Pokémon they didn't have when Kumiko first met them.

After the battle had begun, Hazuki's Eevee shot Midori's Helioptile four times with glowing red cards, visibly damaging it by a small amount. While the audience was confused as to why there was infighting between teammates, Hazuki's Eevee danced around the battlefield, constantly getting closer towards Torterra. Once it was only a short distance away, Eevee shot one final card at Torterra.

Upon impact, Torterra visibly recoiled at the damage, sending the bulky Pokémon reeling backwards. The audience gasped, shocked that such a small Pokémon like Eevee could pack such a punch.

"That move must have been Trump Card," Reina noted. "It can only be used five times, with the power increasing by 150% between the fourth and fifth from 80 to 200. By having her partner's Pokémon tank the comparatively weaker hits first, Miss Hazuki's Eevee would easily be able to deal a lot of damage."

Torterra stabilized itself again, then stomped its feet on the ground to create a powerful Earthquake. Its teammate Smeargle jumped on its back to avoid the damage, while Eevee jumped on Helioptile's back.

Confused as to why the Pokémon with a weakness to Ground-type moves would be the one receiving the brunt of the attack, Kumiko's question was answered when Midori's Helioptile aimed a Thunderbolt downwards, the resulting discharge knocking the two small Pokémon upward into the air, letting them dodge the attack.

In the air, Helioptile just let itself slowly drift down, its fall being slowed by its opened frill. Meanwhile, Eevee aligned itself in the direction of its opponent's Torterra and glowed a bright yellow before diving towards it, striking it directly on the shell.

The ground underneath Torterra was crushed by the impact as Eevee jumped off it, its retreat covered by Helioptile firing Thunderbolts at Smeargle. Torterra managed to stand up again, but Eevee glowed yellow charged at it once more just as it regained its footing. With that hit, Torterra was knocked out, unable to defend itself against Eevee's level of damage output.

"Last Resort? I get it now." Reina commented, then turned to Kumiko as she explained what Hazuki's Eevee just did. "Last Resort is another powerful move that only works once the Pokémon using it has used all the other moves it knows. If Miss Hazuki's Eevee only knows Trump Card and Last Resort, then she could instantly fire off Last Resort once Trump Card hit one last time, creating a chain of powerful moves."

Kumiko was amazed that someone like Hazuki could execute such an ingenious strategy like that, considering she had lost her first Gym Battle because of poor planning. Even if it wasn't her who came up with it, the fact that such a harmless Pokémon like Eevee could cause so much damage put Kumiko on high alert. If Hazuki and Midori pulled out a win, then Reina and her would be next in line to fall.

As its partner was being recalled back into its Pokéball, Smeargle unleashed its most powerful move upon command from its Trainer. Rushing towards Midori's Helioptile, its Giga Impact was only blocked in time by another Last Resort from Hazuki's Eevee. The two attacks colliding with each other, both Pokémon were now unable to move from the clash, though it was due to fainting in Eevee's case.

Its body recovering from Giga Impact's rebound, Smeargle was stuck in place, leaving it a sitting Ducklett as Midori's Helioptile repeatedly used Thunderbolt on it. After about four or five strikes, Smeargle finally passed out from the repeated electrocution.

"Pribzz and Kiith of Team 16 have been eliminated. Hazuki Katou and Midori of Team 15 will advance to the next round." the referee announced.

Kumiko felt a chill go down her back, then checked to see that none of Aoi's Pokémon were behind her. Though Hazuki and Midori didn't show it when she first met them, they were far more competent than Kumiko had expected. Was either one of them hiding their true strength when she rescued them?

* * *

The second round of battles passed by without much fanfare for the most part, as Nozomi and Mizore handily won their match, while Natsuki and Yuuko pulled off what Kumiko considered impossible feats of coordination when their Meowstic constantly used Ally Switch to swap positions with each other during scenarios where the other would be more useful, and won their battle as well.

With three of the four battles now finished, the only one that was left was Kumiko and Reina's against Hazuki and Midori. Discussing strategies with Reina, Kumiko came to the conclusion that whatever they did, they needed to stop Hazuki's Eevee from using Trump Card first. Otherwise, the battle was as good as over.

Just as Reina and her were about to head down, Kumiko heard a cheerful shout from a familiar voice. "Hey, Kumiko! Over here!"

Turning around to see Hazuki and Midori waving at, Kumiko immediately realized that she hadn't seen them anywhere during the first round, even when it wasn't their turn to battle. Were they hiding somewhere to plan?

Disregarding those thoughts for the moment, Kumiko waved back. "Hi, Hazuki. Hi, Midori. It's felt like quite a while since I saw you two."

"That's right!" Hazuki energetically replied. "In that time, me and Midori beat the Gyms in Onic City and Perto City, and captured a few new Pokémon as well! I can't wait to show you how strong we've become! In fact, the strategy that Midori and me came up with-" Hazuki's mouth was quickly silenced by Midori's left hand being on top of it.

"Hazuki-chan, don't spill the beans right now," Midori advised her. "Even though Kumiko-chan's our friend, we're going to be battling her and her partner very soon. If you tell them what else we've planned, then we'll lose the element of surprise!"

Stretching her free arm out towards Reina, Midori looked pleased to see her. "And you are? You must be a good person for Kumiko-chan to trust having you as her partner in this tournament."

Reina took Midori's outstretched hand and shook it, impressed that this tiny girl had such good manners. "Reina Kousaka. You and your friend must be Midori and Hazuki. Kumiko told me a lot about you two, and I'll have to say, you've already made a good impression on me during your performance last battle."

"Thank you very much." Midori politely bowed. "Hazuki-chan and I will make sure to give you a good battle soon enough!"

* * *

Stepping foot on the battlefield again, Kumiko was more accustomed to its feel this time. Looking at Reina, her special one smiled at her, confident they could pull off their plan and win. Sending out Orpheus and Eurydice, Kumiko could hear Hazuki and Midori calling out their Pokémon's names.

"Tubacabra, play it loud!" Hazuki called out, her Eevee appearing in front of her.

"Macaroon, sweeten up the scene!" Midori's joyful voice accompanied her Helioptile.

Once all four Pokémon were on the battlefield, the referee signalled that it was now time to start. "Battle begin!"

"Tubacabra! Trump Card, quartet!" After Hazuki gave her order, Tubacabra began to shoot out the first of four playing cards, but Reina was already a step ahead of her. Playing Ave Maria on her trumpet, Eurydice then used Psychic to stop the card in midair with telekinesis.

As his first strike technically wasn't finished yet, Tubacabra was left unable to attack. Seeing the predicament that Hazuki was in, Midori decided to move in her stead. "Macaroon, use Thunderbolt!"

Macaroon fired a bolt of lightning towards Eurydice's direction, but Kumiko had Orpheus Teleport between them and use Thunder Punch to redirect and absorb the attack, this being another new move that Reina had taught him.

His right arm still crackling with Electric-type energy, Orpheus then Teleported in to where Tubacabra was and prepared to deliver the enhanced Thunder Punch, but Hazuki saw what Kumiko was planning to do a split-second before it happened and shouted out a last-ditch order. "Sand Attack!"

Tubacabra dug up some dust and dirt from the ground and flung it in Orpheus' direction in hopes of blocking his field of view, but Orpheus continued on through using his intuition. Trusting his instincts, the supercharged Thunder Punch connected with Tubacabra's face and sent him flying back. With Tubacabra's concentration now being broken, the Trump Card that Eurydice was holding up with Psychic disintegrated in midair.

For some reason, rather than settle back to the ground normally, the dust that was kicked up was attracted to Orpheus' electrified arm as it slowly drained the charge from it, with the debris slowly gravitating towards a single point. Once all the electricity was gone, the collective mass of dust dropped on the ground, now becoming a semi-opaque stone that coursed with an electric current.

"A Thunder Stone?" Reina questioned, then seemed to have settled on an explanation. "It may be possible that the electricity from the powered-up Thunder Punch caused the dust to be electrified as well, and being clumped together turned them into an ad-hoc Thunder Stone."

Even though Kumiko didn't understand much of what Reina said, she realized that a Thunder Stone now being on the battlefield made things more dangerous for them. If Hazuki's Eevee got a hold of it, then it could outspeed and attack them extremely quickly once it evolved into a Jolteon. Knowing what she had to do, Kumiko gave Orpheus his next order. "Get that Thunder Stone back with Teleport!"

As Reina commanded Eurydice to use Psychic on Macaroon with her trumpet, Orpheus warped to where the Thunder Stone was and picked it up, then blinked back to his original position just as Tubacabra was charging towards him.

Seeing that a possible competitive advantage had been nullified, Midori knew they had to get it back if they wanted to win and advance. Whispering to Hazuki, her friend nodded in approval of what Midori was planning to do.

"Use Thunderbolt away from Tubacabra!" Hearing Midori's command, Kumiko was confused as to what she meant when Macaroon fired a blast of electricity below the ground he was standing on, allowing him to escape from Eurydice's repeated Psychics.

The recoil knocked him back towards Tubacabra and sent both Pokémon flying towards Orpheus, who was still holding the Thunder Stone. Seeing that her opponents were now heading towards Orpheus, Kumiko did the only logical choice in this situation. "Use Teleport!"

Just as Tubacabra's head was about to touch the Thunder Stone, Orpheus warped away and immediately reappeared behind them. As he only Teleported a short distance away, Tubacabra and Macaroon were able to catch up to him soon enough, but Kumiko commanded Orpheus to Teleport again, narrowly avoiding danger once more.

This game of Meowth-and-Pikachu continued on several times, with the margin between Orpheus and his opponents slowly getting smaller as repeated Teleports wore him down. Kumiko knew that if she continued to rely on this strategy, then Tubacabra would eventually be able to touch that Thunder Stone once Orpheus was exhausted enough.

For some reason, Kumiko thought back to what Natsuki and Yuuko did in their battle and got an idea. Whispering it to Reina, her special one nodded at her suggestion. Despite the high risks associated with it, it was the most effective way to decisively break the deadlock.

"Orpheus, toss the Thunder Stone up in the air!" Upon hearing his Trainer's command, Orpheus was confused as to why she wanted it in such a vulnerable position, but trusted her anyways, knowing that she had good judgement.

Throwing it straight into the sky, Tubacabra and Macaroon were entranced by the Thunder Stone's amber lustre, sunlight going through it and scattering golden rays all over the ground. Even though she internally questioned why Kumiko had chosen to do that, Midori knew that this could be her only chance to make Tubacabra evolve. "Macaroon, launch yourself and Tubacabra up!"

As soon as their opponent's Pokémon were in the air, Reina seized this chance. "Eurydice! Use Teleport, valse metre!"

Before Tubacabra could get to the Thunder Stone, Eurydice had already swapped positions with it, the stone now safe down on the ground in Orpheus' hands. With both of her opponents now vulnerable and unable to get the Thunder Stone, Reina could now deal with both of them in one blow.

Reina played Ave Maria on her trumpet one last time, and Eurydice fired out a Psychic that flattened both Tubacabra and Macaroon towards the ground. Teleporting back to where Orpheus was, Eurydice held the attack for a few more seconds, then released her Psychic grip to reveal that both Tubacabra and Macaroon had both fainted.

"Hazuki Katou and Midori of Team 15 have been eliminated. Kumiko Oumae and Reina Kousaka of Team 13 will advance to the next round." the referee announced.

Heading over to where the Thunder Stone lay, Kumiko picked it up and walked over to where Hazuki and Midori were standing. As Hazuki looked on in confusion, Kumiko lightly tapped her on the head with it, eliciting a shocked response from the smaller girl.

"Here, Hazuki. You can have this Thunder Stone." Kumiko offered, seeing how desperate her friends were trying to get it during the battle. "I don't have any Pokémon that can evolve with it, and I think your Eevee would make for an awesome Jolteon, given how it was running around the battlefield."

"R-Really?" Hazuki was surprised at Kumiko's kind gesture, but a huge grin then appeared on her face and she tackled Kumiko in a hug. "Thanks a lot, Kumiko! You're such an awesome friend!"

Hugging Hazuki back, Kumiko realized how much she had missed Hazuki and Midori. Even though travelling with Reina seemed like a dream come true for her, Hazuki and Midori's energetic enthusiasm was something that even her special one could not replace.

"Kumiko-chan! Thank you very much!" Midori squealed in delight. "With this, Hazuki-chan will become stronger! I'll make sure of it!"

Seeing this reunion between friends, Reina was reminded of a promise that she had made several years ago. While she couldn't fulfill it with her current abilities, everything she did from that point forward was in service of it, and that included getting stronger.

"_Someday, I'll meet you at the top, sensei._" she thought to herself.

* * *

I'd expect everyone reading this to get at least two references in this chapter (the Madoka and Bloom Into You ones), since they do have quite an audience overlap with Hibike. I hope you like the Pokémon I gave our lesbian couples!

For the less obvious references, Thunder Cross Split Attack is from JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, while Pribzz and Kiith are people I know on the Hibike subreddit Discord.

Anyway, chapters will be posted regularly every Thursday from now on, so we're finally back to normal!


	22. Chapter 22: Let the Battles Begin 2

Settling back into their seats, Kumiko and Reina were now joined by Hazuki and Midori, who they just eliminated from the tournament. Since she didn't have time to ask them before their match, Kumiko wanted to know what Hazuki and Midori were up to after they parted ways.

Explaining their side of the story first, Kumiko retold her journey from the point where she went with Nozomi through Reed Forest to her and Reina challenging the Gym yesterday. After she had finished with a few additions from Reina, she turned to Hazuki and Midori, signalling them to start talking.

"Well, Midori and me went back out into the woods after you left to catch more Pokémon" Hazuki explained. "And there was where I caught Tubacabra. Midori didn't catch any Pokémon there, but she had her little sister send over Macaroon from her home."

"The next day, we went back to challenge the Gym. I narrowly won by the skin of my teeth, but you should have seen Midori!" Hazuki exclaimed. "She only used Macaroon in her Gym Battle, but she managed to knock out both the Gym Leader's Pokémon!"

"What, really?" Kumiko was surprised. Despite knowing that Midori had voluntarily withdrew her Gym challenge the first time they went there and battling against her just now, Kumiko hadn't expected someone as innocent as Midori to pack such a punch.

"Yeah! After we got our Gym Badges, we spent two days getting lost in Reed Forest, but after emerging back out in Perto City, we went to challenge the Gym there! Thanks to battling a lot of wild Pokémon in the forest, we both managed to get stronger there and defeat the Gym Leader easily!" Hazuki seemed to get more and more pumped up as she spoke.

"On the way to Edian City, Midori caught a Flabébé and nicknamed her Valse, while Hazuki-chan caught a Shroomish and nicknamed him Staccato!" Midori continued. "When we arrived here, we decided to try our luck at a nearby raffle stall, and that's how we ended up here!"

"Huh, so you two also got your passes at the same raffle stall as us." Kumiko noted. "Then meeting you guys here was a stroke of luck."

"Ooh! Look!" Midori pointed at the battlefield. "The next battle's starting!"

Seeing as this round was the semifinals, there were only two battles taking place, with the one about to start being the first. Kumiko audibly gulped as she realized that Reina and her were next in line after this battle, with their opponents this time being Natsuki and Yuuko.

Doing a facepalm, Kumiko shook her head at her forgetfulness. Being so wrapped up in talking to Hazuki and Midori, she had completely forgotten who she was facing. Since both Natsuki and Yuuko had one more year of experience under their belts, their battle was going to be more uphill compared to the previous two.

Shifting her gaze back down to the battlefield, Kumiko saw that Nozomi and Mizore had already sent out their Togedemaru and Mimikyu, and were waiting for their opponents to do the same.

"Hey, Kumiko-chan," Midori called at her. "Did you catch any new Pokémon after we split? Oh, and what other Pokémon does Reina-chan have? You two still haven't told us yet."

"Yup, I caught a Mareep and named her Sparkle when we were travelling from Perto City to Edian City, and she evolved into a Flaaffy during my Gym battle here." Kumiko answered. "Reina's starter Pokémon is a Froslass named Idina, and the newest addition to her team is an Alolan Vulpix named Demi that hatched out of an Egg a couple of days ago."

"Wow! So you're like an ice queen!" Hazuki was entranced by the trend in Reina's Pokémon. "Right, Reina?"

While Reina hadn't heard anyone refer to her by that nickname, she felt that it was quite fitting for someone like herself, with her personality and all. Though Kumiko hadn't confirmed it out loud in front of her yet, Reina had long suspected that her special one also thought of her that way.

Childishly giggling to herself at the thought of Kumiko calling her by that name, Reina elicited curious looks from Kumiko, Hazuki, and Midori. Straightening herself back up with a blush on her face, Reina felt embarrassed that Kumiko had seen her lose her composure.

"Nozomi Kasaki and Mizore Yoroizuka of Team 1 will advance to the finals!" the referee announced, causing the four girls to realize they had missed the bulk of the match while they were talking.

"Kumiko, we have to go and prepare!" Reina hurriedly reminded her. "We've only got five minutes left until it's our turn!"

Scampering down to their allocated preparation room, Kumiko and Reina's sudden departure was given a farewell by Hazuki and Midori waving goodbye to them, eager to see how their friends would perform in their next match.

"Hazuki-chan, don't you think that Kumiko-chan and Reina-chan make a perfect couple?" Midori asked. "Not only do they make good partners when battling, but they're so close together!"

"Uhh… Midori," Hazuki thought that her friend made a mistake. "Don't you mean they make a good team?"

Midori sighed. "Ah, Hazuki-chan. You really don't have any idea, do you? How sweet and naïve you are…"

* * *

"Hey, Kumiko!" Natsuki shouted. "Give me and Yuuko a good battle, will ya?"

"Eh, what?" Kumiko called back at her from the other side of the battlefield. While there was still some time before the battle actually began, she hadn't expected Natsuki and Yuuko to finish preparing this early and show themselves, even though she and Reina had done the same.

"What I mean is, make sure this battle goes down to the wire!" Natsuki yelled even louder, her voice finally managing to tickle Kumiko's ears. "We were only lucky that we got into this invitational, and we're not backing down! Not when Yuuko's hopes and dreams are on the line! Oh yeah, and my chance to see HTT live! I'm a fan of their music!"

"That's right!" Yuuko added. "After we win this, then it's just one more battle before I'll get to meet Kaori Nakaseko in person! I won't give up this chance to meet my idol that easily!"

"Good luck with that," Reina fired back. "Kumiko and I won't relinquish this chance to get stronger to you two. Sure, we'll give you a good fight, but we're the ones who are going to win _and_ get the prizes once everything ends."

Reaching for their Pokéballs, Kumiko and Reina sent out Orpheus and Eurydice, prompting Yuuko and Natsuki to do the same with Heart and Soul. The referee confirmed that all four participants' Pokémon were on the battlefield and began the battle. "Match start!"

"Dualshock!" Natsuki and Yuuko ordered their Pokémon in unison, and Heart and Soul both fired out Psyshocks that headed towards Orpheus and Eurydice.

As Kumiko commanded Orpheus to Teleport around and dodge the incoming attack, Reina had a different counter in mind. Taking out her trumpet, she simply played a long note, and Eurydice used Psychic to stop the attack just before it reached her.

Seeing that their opponents had used extremely different strategies to deal with the same attack despite possessing the same Pokémon, Natsuki and Yuuko immediately got angry at each other for failing to account for this.

"Why didn't you tell me that Kousaka and Oumae's battling styles were so different?" Yuuko questioned her partner. "You seem closer with Oumae than I am with Kousaka, yet you didn't know that they would respond to the same attack in different ways, even after they already battled two times today? Where are your eyes?"

"Guess I could say the same to you, princess." Natsuki snarked back. "Who was it that dragged me back to discuss 'strategy' when we could have observed our opponents up front and planned from there? Oh, that's right, you!"

"Really? You could have said something about that earlier on, but you didn't!" Yuuko was fuming. "Heart, Shadow Ball duet!"

"That's because you were too damn cute, so I couldn't tell that directly to your face!" Natsuki's pent up rage was starting to spew out, then she blushed as she realized what she just said. "Screw it! Soul, Helping Hand!"

As Heart was charging up two Shadow Balls in both her hands, Soul gave her a friendly slap on the back, which caused the Ghost-type attack to be surrounded by a white light. Throwing them out, Natsuki then gave Soul another order. "Use Psychic on those Shadow Balls!"

A new ring of Psychic energy formed around the two Shadow Balls, causing them to change direction abruptly and head towards Orpheus and Eurydice at impossible trajectories. With one swerving towards him, Orpheus managed to slow one down with Confusion, while Eurydice destroyed both attacks with two rounds of Psychic.

"Gah! Kousaka's Ralts is the stronger one!" Natsuki vented. "Why didn't you tell me about this earlier, Yuuko? She's your friend! You should know more about her than I do!"

"Look, I know that Kousaka's good in battle, but I didn't know that she had that much raw power!" Yuuko ranted. "Aside from these matches, the only time I've seen her battle was with her Froslass! You'd think I'd know about how good her other Pokémon are? Give me a break!"

Natsuki was pissed "Fine! I'll give you one! Soul, Ally Switch then Protect!"

Just as Heart was about to be hit by dual Magical Leaves from Orpheus and Eurydice, Soul swapped positions with her, then put up a barrier that shielded them from the leaves. Now being able to attack safely again, Yuuko did so with Heart. "Use Shadow Ball again!"

Heart fired up another Shadow Ball and directed it towards Orpheus, knowing that he would be easy pickings compared to the much stronger Eurydice, who was currently dealing with Soul's defensive tactics. After firing it out towards him, Orpheus Teleported away from Heart's move on instinct, but Soul immediately used Psychic to manipulate her own Shadow Ball after Teleporting away from Eurydice.

With Orpheus constantly Teleporting around, Kumiko realized that she and Reina had been stuck on the defensive for most of this match, and that meant both Heart and Soul hadn't received much damage. Telling this to Reina, her special one also agreed with her that they would need a new course of action if they were to win this battle.

Seeing their opponents' relative inaction, Natsuki and Yuuko knew that this was the perfect opportunity to break the deadlock they were in. While they were the ones dishing out the most damage, very little of it had actually hit Orpheus or Eurydice. This chance was all they needed to turn the tide.

"Natsuki, you ready for this?" Yuuko asked her partner, knowing that she would be thinking the exact same way as her.

"Ready when you are, princess!" Natsuki cracked her knuckles, then struck a pose. "Sucker Punch duet!"

Heart dissipated her Shadow Ball and Teleported back to her Trainer's side along with Soul. Springing into action after Soul powered her up with another Helping Hand, she moved across the battlefield so quickly that she was little more than a blur to anyone watching, and finally appeared again in front of Eurydice.

Her arm stretched back in a fist, Heart punched the Ralts in front of her, but just as the force from the attack was transferred over, Soul swapped places with her using Ally Switch and delivered his own Sucker Punch, instantly doubling the damage dealt.

The resulting impact from the two super-effective moves was devastating, with Kumiko and Reina cringing as their Pokémon was sent flying back. Seeing that their signature combination had worked wonders in dealing significant damage to their opponents' strongest Pokémon, Natsuki and Yuuko high-fived each other, congratulating themselves on a job well done.

Just as they were preparing to deal with their opponents' Pokémon, two Shadow Balls slammed into Heart and Soul as they were caught off-guard. Knowing that Orpheus didn't pack this sort of punch, Natsuki and Yuuko were surprised at how Eurydice managed to cling on and counterattack even after receiving two super-effective moves head on.

Upon glancing back at the battlefield again, Natsuki and Yuuko saw Eurydice preparing to charge up two more Shadow Balls again, looking none the worse for wear. Panicking, they also looked at where Eurydice had been sent flying a moment before and saw Orpheus there, currently struggling to stay conscious after all that damage.

"So you two finally figured it out." Reina explained, her voice slightly straining from the volume she was speaking at, as she told Natsuki and Yuuko what Kumiko and her just did. "From observing your previous battles, we saw that your synchronicity with each other was almost flawless, so we borrowed a technique from you two in case either of you thoung of pulling off a combination attack."

"Orpheus can survive more attacks than Eurydice, so we devised a plan where he would swap positions with Eurydice to tank the hit, since it would be the logical assumption to target the more powerful Pokémon first from your point of view." Reina continued. "Big mistake. Eurydice, Shadow Ball duet."

Firing out the two Shadow Balls she was charging, Natsuki and Yuuko were sufficiently angry at how they had been duped to focus on the battle again, telling their Pokémon to dodge as they began arguing again.

"Why didn't you tell me how brainy and gutsy Kousaka was?" Natsuki questioned Yuuko. "Out of all the opponents we've fought so far, she's the only one to even consider using her partner's Pokémon as a decoy to preserve her own Pokémon's health! How did Kumiko even agree to that?"

"Well, I know she was an honor student from her time at school," Yuuko shot back with her answer. "But she usually relies on brute force offense in battle from what I've seen of her before this, though that was because most of the opponents she's faced were much weaker than her. Maybe being with Oumae made her less aggressive?"

"Huh, that's possible." Natsuki smiled at the thought that Kumiko had managed to melt the chains that bound her ice queen's heart, turning her into a gentler person in the process. However, those thoughts were stopped short as she realized that the Shadow Balls that Heart and Soul dodged were coming back towards them.

"H-how?" Yuuko was shocked at the way the Shadow Balls were moving on their own. Since Eurydice's attack hadn't hit anything yet, that meant she couldn't use another one yet. A look of horror dawned on Natsuki and Yuuko's faces as they realized that Orpheus had won his battle with fatigue, and was now using Confusion to help Eurydice steer her Shadow Balls.

"Don't underestimate Kumiko." Reina muttered under her breath in a sinister voice.

Their moment of revelation was soon cut short as both Heart and Soul were struck by Eurydice's dual attacks, pinning them to the ground. Teleporting above them, Eurydice fired several Shadow Balls below her, effectively preventing Heart and Soul from getting up.

Once the dust from her barrage cleared, both Heart and Soul had fainted from receiving so much damage. Teleporting to Orpheus' side before she impacted the ground, Eurydice helped her brother back up before they warped to where Kumiko and Reina were.

"Natsuki Nakagawa and Yuuko Yoshikawa of Team 12 have been eliminated. Kumiko Oumae and Reina Kousaka of Team 13 will advance to the finals!" the referee announced.

* * *

After getting back to their seats, Kumiko and Reina were visited by Natsuki and Yuuko, who seemed to be slightly miffed at how their battle turned out.

"So, looks like you beat us at our own game, huh?" Natsuki commented. "That trick you pulled off with Kousaka? Simply amazing. Though if I were you, I wouldn't agree with having my Pokémon taking all the damage."

"It's fine." Kumiko saw nothing wrong with what Reina did. "It was a strategy that only worked with the two of us cooperating, so we both needed to be on board with what was going to happen."

"Well yeah, but that won't save you in your next match," Natsuki informed her. "Your opponents in the finals are Nozomi Kasaki and Mizore Yoroizuka, friends of ours. Nozomi's technique is about as good as a Gym Leader's, while Mizore's know to fight on par with an Elite Four member."

"Actually, I've met them both before." Kumiko told Natsuki, causing her friend's eyes to widen at the sudden reveal. "Well, mainly Nozomi, but I've seen Mizore battle on TV a couple of days ago."

"What?!" Natsuki was shocked. "Why didn't you tell me sooner?"

"I didn't really know they were your friends, since you never told me before." Kumiko matter-of-factly answered. "Though you did mention before that you had a friend who played flute, but I never connected the dots."

"OK, then. My bad." Natsuki admitted. "But still, since you've met them, that makes things a bit easier to explain. I've never seen the Pokémon they're using in the tournament before, which means that they must have been newly caught, so I can't really tell you anything about them. Even so, don't think they're just using this as a test run for their new partners! Whenever Mizore plays, she plays for keeps, especially with Nozomi around. I swear, the lengths she goes to impress her…"

Kumiko's mind swam with this dump of information from Natsuki. Though she hoped that Natsuki would give her some information about their upcoming battle, this completely turned her expectations upside down. Short of knowing a little of both Nozomi and Mizore's battling styles and their power, Kumiko was left completely in the dark about who she was about to face.

Seeing the look on Reina's face, Kumiko also saw that she had come to the same conclusion. Throughout their battles in this tournament, Nozomi and Mizore had steamrolled all their opponents, needing very little strategy to progress this far. If they combined this strength with their tactical minds, then Reina and her would have little chance of winning.

But that didn't mean they were entirely giving up hope.

* * *

After waving a quick goodbye to Natsuki and Yuuko, Kumiko and Reina headed down to the preparation room, with a short amount of time left before the finals were scheduled to be held.

"Long story short, I think we're screwed." Kumiko addressed Reina while she was panicking at the challenge they were about to face. "The difference in skill between us and our opponents is extremely large. I mean, one of them was able to match an Elite Four member! How do we have any hope of winning this?"

"Calm down, Kumiko." Reina began. "While Miss Nakagawa couldn't tell us much about our opponent's Pokémon, she did say they were only caught recently, so Miss Kasaki and Miss Yoroizuka shouldn't have had much time to train them. We can use that fact to our advantage."

"How?" Kumiko didn't know what to process from Reina's words. Did Reina know something she didn't about this matchup?

"Look at it this way." Reina began to explain. "It usually takes a certain amount of time before a caught Pokémon gets fully accustomed to being under a Trainer's command, so a Trainer's unique battling style and strategy doesn't truly shine through during this period."

"Throughout this tournament, Miss Kasaki and Miss Yoroizuka were solely relying on their Pokémon's sheer power to win their battles, which meant they didn't have any sort of plan in mind. If we can deduce any weaknesses in how their Pokémon attack, then we can exploit them and force them to rely on a more tactical approach, which would mean that they wouldn't be able to fight as well." Reina concluded.

"I see one problem with this approach." Kumiko pointed out. "Using brute force alone, Nozomi and Mizore's Pokémon could easily knock out Orpheus and Eurydice in a few hits before we can even find any flaws. We can't win on both the power and strategy fronts."

"Precisely." Reina responded. "Which is why we need to dodge first and dodge hard."

* * *

After their few minutes of planning had been used up, Kumiko and Reina stepped on to the battlefield for what could be their last match. Looking around the battlefield, she saw Nozomi wave at her from the other side, while Mizore just stared at the oboe she was clutching in her hand.

Not wanting to seem impolite, Kumiko waved back at her, though she knew that in a moment all pretense of niceness would drop in the heat of battle. With how tough Nozomi and Mizore were, Kumiko was still heavily doubting that Reina's strategy could work in this situation, even if it was the only chance they had.

Sending out Orpheus and Eurydice, Kumiko and Reina saw that Nozomi and Mizore were just about to throw out their own Pokéballs.

"Rondo, repeat after me!" Nozomi energetically called out as her Togedemaru emerged from its Pokéball.

"Ostinato, repeat after… Nozomi?" Mizore's voice was hesitant as she sent out her Mimikyu.

The referee confirmed that all the participants had sent out their Pokémon, and began the final match. "Battle start!"

"Rondo, Iron Head! Ostinato, Shadow Claw!" Nozomi ordered both Mizore's and her own Pokémon. Her Togedemaru spun forward at Orpheus and Eurydice, while Mizore's Mimikyu remained in place and extended a ghostly arm outwards in a flanking position.

Seeing that Rondo was rushing forwards towards him, Orpheus Teleported out of the way just before the Roly-Poly Pokémon could hit him, and reappeared behind his opponent. Rondo stopped in her tracks to turn around and face Orpheus, then started spinning towards him again.

Meanwhile, Eurydice was busy using blasts of Psychic to try and knock back Ostinato's Shadow Claw, but the Mimikyu just simply swatted them away with its enlarged arm, clearly unaffected by the powerful attack. Sighing, Reina played Danse Macabre on her trumpet, ordering Eurydice to use Shadow Ball instead. To her surprise and delight, it seemed to hurt Mizore's Pokémon instead of just being repelled, causing its Disguise to pop.

Looking at Rondo chasing Orpheus around the battlefield and Eurydice futilely attacking Ostinato, Mizore turned to look at Nozomi. "Do you need me to do something?"

"It's alright, Mizore." Nozomi answered her. "Kumiko should only be a three-badge Trainer at most, and her friend should also be similar in skill level. Winning this should be a piece of cake."

"Oh…" Mizore trailed off. The reason she and Nozomi had even bothered to enter this tournament in the first place after winning their passes in a lucky draw was to find strong opponents to battle against. However, Mizore was disappointed when all of the opponents they had faced so far could easily be crushed without much effort.

It seemed that Oumae and Kousaka would prove to be the same.

Stepping back, Mizore let Nozomi take over again, leaving her desired at the reins. Since the was most likely going to be another one-sided battle, there was no need for Mizore to waste any energy in thinking up strategies to win. All she wanted was to win and go home. This was boring.

As Orpheus and Eurydice continued to counter their opponent's moves, Reina was beginning to see some flaws in how their opponents' Pokémon were attacking. Even though Nozomi's Togedemaru was constantly attacking at high speeds, it still needed to stop and reorient itself to change directions, and it seemed that there was a limit to what types of attacks Mizore's Mimikyu could block with its shadow arm.

Conveying her observations and possible counters to Kumiko, Reina's special one nodded at her suggestions as she chose to take on Nozomi's Togedemaru, while Reina would be in charge of defeating Mizore's Mimikyu, seeing as their Pokémon had moves that were well-suited to deal with them.

Just as Rondo was about to change direction after Orpheus had Teleported again, Kumiko used the short moment where she needed to reorient herself to command Orpheus. "Use Fire Punch!"

Orpheus Teleported close to Rondo and attacked, his flame-wreathed fist dealing a super-effective impact at close range. However, he immediately recoiled after his attack struck, the fire around his hand dissipating as he shook in pain.

Reina glanced at Orpheus, wondering what had happened to him when the hand of Mizore's Mimikyu suddenly disappeared just before another one of Eurydice's Shadow Balls hit it. Looking around to see where it went, Reina was about to tell Eurydice to change tactics when a shadow crept up below her and lunged up, trapping Eurydice in the grasp of Ostinato's spectral hand.

"Kumiko, that must have been Togedemaru's Ability, Iron Barbs!" Reina exclaimed. "If Orpheus continually attacks Nozomi's Togedemaru, then he'll gain more damage with each hit and faint!"

"Yeah, but Eurydice is stuck in the arm of Mizore's Mimikyu!" Kumiko replied, fully aware of how much they were screwed right now. Even when they had a thought-out plan, their opponents had managed to overpower them with little effort, rendering anything they did moot.

As Orpheus and Eurydice struggled with the damage their opponents were slowly racking up on them, Reina was starting to lose her cool. Though they had some challenging moments in their past battles, this was the first time that Kumiko and her were truly pushed up against the wall with nowhere to go.

* * *

"Wow, the girl with the Togedemaru is so cool! I want to be just like her!" a girl in the audience exclaimed, her Staraptor cawing in agreement. "Wonder what's her name?"

* * *

Ui Hirasawa prepared to open the case she had at her side.

* * *

Her mind racing against the clock to come up with a plan to get their Pokémon out of their current situation, Reina could see no options in front of her. Starting to despair, she did the only thing she could think of: play her trumpet.

Putting its mouthpiece to her lips, Reina played one of her favourite trumpet solos from a book that also included three others for euphonium, tuba, and contrabass. Why the author had chosen to create a collection of solos from such fundamentally different instruments was a mystery to her, but that didn't matter. All she wanted was to calm her nerves.

As her melody winded its way out of her trumpet, the entire audience was entranced by the tune she was playing, her rich tone and impressive technique putting the icing on the cake for this piece's already beautiful composition.

Despite Eurydice already hearing her Trainer play her trumpet many times before, there was something special about this melody that seemed to give her the strength she needed to break out of the firm grip she was caught in. Reaching her arms out to try and pry herself free, Eurydice's body suddenly glowed with a bright blue light.

As both Kumiko and Reina realized that Eurydice was evolving, Orpheus was also beginning to be surrounded by that same light as well just as he was about to be hit by Rondo, most likely due to the Psychic link with his sister.

Both Ralts' limbs were increasing in length as they grew larger overall, with their green 'hair' stretching outwards and down their heads. The 'gown' around their waists flared up and became ruffled tutus, and their previously hidden eyes not only became visible, but became bigger in size. Once they were no longer shrouded by the blue light, both Orpheus and Eurydice had evolved into Kirlia.

On the other side of the battlefield, Nozomi was dazzled by the dual evolution. "That was… beautiful."

However, Mizore was unfazed by this event, choosing to focus on the battle rather than get distracted like her desired, though given what she saw in front of her, she would have chosen to be entranced.

With newfound strength gained after evolving, Eurydice broke free of Ostinato's ghostly grasp and fired a Shadow Ball, her increased power meaning that Mizore's Mimikyu had more trouble deflecting it. Close by, Orpheus attacked Rondo instead of Teleporting away from her, his increased Attack helping to deal more damage than he received in turn.

As their Pokémon were being beaten back, Mizore turned to look at Nozomi, who was trying to give out new orders. "Do you... need my help now?"

"Yeah, sure." Nozomi hurriedly replied. "Command Ostinato from here, OK? I'll only focus on Rondo from here."

Raising her oboe and putting its reed to her lips, Mizore played her own rendition of Danse Macabre that seemed more sinister and ominous than what Reina played, with each new beat signalling Ostinato to change his arm's direction, which prevented it from being hit by Eurydice's Shadow Balls. Playing it for a while, she put an accent on her current note, and Ostinato's arm lunged forward at Eurydice.

As Kumiko was trying to tell Orpheus when to use Fire Punch and prevent him from suffering unnecessary recoil, Nozomi solely focusing on ordering Rondo meant that her movements were now more quick and precise, with her rolling around the battlefield with more force than before, this time starting to add some curving to her movements.

Kumiko was starting to get motion sickness from all the different directions that Rondo was moving in, but eventually she pinpointed a moment when Rondo was going to impact Orpheus amidst all the chaos.

Reaching towards his opponent, Ostinato's ghostly claw was suddenly disoriented as he was knocked back. Looking at the angle of impact, Mizore then glanced up at the sky above her and saw a Teleported Eurydice slowly floating down, the ghastly wisps of a spent Shadow Ball dissipating from her hands.

Using another Teleport to get closer to her opponent on the ground, Eurydice fired several more Shadow Balls at Ostinato as Reina played Danse Macabre again, her version being more glorious and triumphant compared to Mizore's, serving as a rebuttal to her previous dominance in battle.

Gearing up, Rondo spun even faster than before, knowing that even with a sudden evolution in the middle of battle, one more Iron Head from her was all she needed to take down her opponent. Upon command from her Trainer, Rondo rolled as fast as she could, hoping to strike her opponent before he even realized it.

Unfortunately, the lack of situational awareness at high speeds went both ways for Rondo, and she was met face-first by Orpheus' primed Fire Punch.

Stopping in her tracks from the force, Rondo was met with more Fire Punches from Orpheus, who had managed to light up his left hand with fire after his evolution. With both Rondo and Ostinato being on the receiving end of the curb-stomp this time, Nozomi and Mizore were left with no options available to them.

Running out of strength to continue using their current attacks, Orpheus and Eurydice fell back on Kumiko and Reina's orders once their Trainers also realized this. Now that both their opponents were down, Kumiko and Reina decided to go for one final attack and finish them off as they shouted in unison. "Confusion!"

Orpheus and Eurydice leapt up into the air before firing out their Psychic moves simultaneously at their opponents. Though this simple move dealt little damage, it was still enough to deal the finishing blow to the weakened Rondo and Ostinato.

After the dust had settled, the referee came to a decision.

"Nozomi Kasaki and Mizore Yoroizuka of Team 1 have been eliminated, which means I am pleased to inform you that Kumiko Oumae and Reina Kousaka of Team 13 are the victors of the Edian City Double Battle Invitational!"

* * *

A/N: Fun fact, due to how I create a backlog of chapters, I actually wrote this chapter before the two Nozomi and Mizore-specific chapters, which means that the chapter where they capture their Togedemaru and Mimikyu is more of a retcon to explain how Mizore, who is seen battling an Elite Four member, has a Pokémon that can lose to Kumiko and Reina. That, and she was getting bored of the entire thing.

You may have also noticed a seemingly random reference about a girl with a Staraptor in the text, which is actually a reference to Nozomi's biggest fan IRL (at least in the English-speaking world). For those that know, see if you can guess who that is!


	23. Chapter 23: Let the Battles Begin 3

Stepping up to the podium, Kumiko and Reina certainly did not expect this result.

After facing Nozomi and Mizore in the finals of the Double Battle invitational, they had somehow emerged as the victors despite facing opponents of greater skill through a combination of luck, planning, and the timely evolution of Orpheus and Eurydice into Kirlia.

Though part of them doubted whether this victory was truly hard-earned or just a fluke, they were overall pleased that events had turned out in their favor. While Kumiko was just content with the whole state of affairs, Reina was internally ecstatic at the chance of getting her first real taste of power.

With two of the prizes for this competition being three Z-Crystals and a Z-Power ring for each winning participant, along with a Double Battle against two Elite Four members, Reina could now finally get the strength she needed to challenge those at the top, which was also something she could do immediately.

Approaching Nakaseko and Saitou, Reina noticed that aside from the two envelopes containing tickets to the rock concert (which she didn't really care about) and the case most likely containing the Z-Crystals with Z-Power Rings, there was another smaller case on the side of the table with the prizes. While she didn't expect that there would be an additional prize, Reina hoped that it would be something good.

"Congratulations on winning, Ms. Kousaka, Ms. Oumae." Nakaseko addressed them, handing the envelopes to Kumiko and Reina. "Here are the tickets for a rock concert next week."

Though she was confused as to why this supposed 'main draw' of the invitational got so little attention from the presenters, Reina decided to pay no attention to this fact, choosing instead to focus on what she originally entered the tournament for.

Getting the case from the table, Aoi opened it and showed the contents to Kumiko and Reina, who were attracted by the radiance of the six crystals and two wristbands inside. Though they were unsure what types of Z-Crystals they were, Kumiko and Reina hoped that at least one of them could give their Pokémon's moves a boost.

"Here are the six Z-Crystals, along with two Z-Power Rings," Aoi explained. "The Z-Crystals are Grassium-Z, Fightinium-Z, Electrium-Z, Icium-Z, Psychium-Z, and Fairium-Z, all selected at random by the sponsor. Please choose three each, and I hope the ones you choose will prove themselves useful on your journeys ahead."

"_Maybe too useful._" Reina thought to herself. Despite what Saitou said about the Z-Crystals being randomly picked, their typings matched those of her own and Kumiko's Pokémon, with the exception of the Fightinium-Z. Was there some match rigging going on behind the scenes?

Shaking her head at that ridiculous thought, Reina chose the Icium-Z, Psychium-Z, and Fairium-Z to suit her Pokémon, while Kumiko picked up the others. Reina was slightly confused as to why Kumiko had chosen the Fightinium-Z, but remembered that Orpheus could evolve into Gallade, which was a Fighting-type.

After they put the Z-Crystals in their bags, Kumiko and Reina equipped the Z-Power Rings on their left wrists, the black and white stone bands gleaming in the afternoon sun.

"They look good on both of you." Aoi commented. Kumiko wondered why an Elite Four member would make such a remark, then realized that she was speaking as a childhood friend. Putting back the case on the table, Aoi turned to Nakaseko, who had a hint of a smile on her face.

"Before we move on to the exhibition battle, there's one more gift we'd like to give to you two." Nakaseko announced. "This present is from Asu-Ms. Tanaka of the Elite Four, who arranged for you two to receive it after previously impressing her."

Nakaseko got the smaller case from the table and opened it in front of Kumiko and Reina, who gasped upon realizing what the Elite Four member had given them. Inside the case were four multicolored spherical stones in it, the two on top larger than the two below.

"These are Mega Stones, which can give certain Pokémon a tremendous boost in power mid-battle. The top left stone is a Gardevoirite, and the top right stone is a Galladite." Nakaseko pointed to the respective stones. "The two stones at the bottom are Key Stones, which can be attached to the bottom of your Z-Power Rings."

"What? Asuka actually went that far for us?" Kumiko thought to herself, eliciting stares from Reina, Aoi, and Nakaseko before realizing that she spoke out loud again.

"Well, she works in mysterious ways," Nakaseko admitted with a blush on her face. "Even I don't know what happens inside her head, and I'm the one that's closest to her. Anyways, she said that you two better use them well when your Pokémon evolve, or else don't think about even challenging her."

"We will." Reina bluntly stated as she accepted her gift. Unless there was yet another surprise, every prize had already been handed out, which meant that it was now time for the main event: the exhibition battle against Saitou and Nakaseko.

Despite not being an ardent fangirl like Yuuko, Reina still admired Nakaseko's steely resolve and iron-hard defense during battle, which had won her many matches that seemed impossible during the moment, earning her the nickname of 'Iron Maiden'. Her also being a skilled trumpet player didn't hurt either, and that was what made Reina interested in her in the first place.

Nakaseko's main strategy was to use Pokémon with a high defense to wall out attacks from opponents, all the while stalling them out with moves such as Toxic and Leech Seed. Because of her battling style, her specialty was in using Steel-type Pokémon, which resisted a lot of types and usually had high defensive stats.

Perhaps this was another reason that Reina looked up at her. Her own battling style completely contrasted Nakaseko's, with hyper-aggressive maneuvers and high-risk high-reward gambits being what she was good at. Seeing someone with a completely different approach to battle succeed was quite eye-opening for her.

Now she would be able to experience this power firsthand.

* * *

Since there was still some time before their exhibition match against the Elite Four members actually begin, Reina decided to run down the conditions of the battle with Kumiko in the preparation room.

"The rules are exactly the same as the invitational." Reina explained. "It's going to be a Double Battle where we can only use one Pokémon each, and the first team to have all their Pokémon knocked out loses. Since it would be absolutely unfair for the Elite Four to be facing us with one of their regular Pokémon, they will be using newly hatched Pokémon instead."

"Won't that be unfair to them instead of us?" Kumiko asked, sensing a possible weakness in this set of rules. "Our Pokémon would be much stronger than theirs in this sort of matchup."

"It won't be," Reina clarified. "Half of how good a Trainer is relies on how well their Pokémon have been trained, and the other half depends on their skills at planning, strategizing, and adapting to the opponent's moves, so I don't think that we'd win that easily. In fact, I'd say it's more or less an even match now."

"So back to the main point," Kumiko refocused. "Who are we using in this battle? We know that Aoi uses Ghost-types and Ms. Nakaseko specializes in Steel-types, so use should choose Pokémon that have super-effective moves against those types."

"I'm thinking of using Orpheus and Eurydice again." Reina answered. "While they may be weak to both Steel and Ghost-type moves, Orpheus can use Fire Punch and Eurydice can use Shadow Ball, so they're our best bet. We have to strike first and strike hard if we want to win, since their Pokémon can also do the same to us."

Seeing as she couldn't think of a better plan than what Reina had laid out in front of her, Kumiko agreed by default, hoping that their Pokémon's superior power could prove a match for Aoi and Nakaseko's battling skill and experience. After a few more minutes of agreeing on specifics, the room attendant informed them that it was now time to battle.

Going out back to the battlefield again, Kumiko and Reina were surprised to see that there were more people filling out the stadium's seats this time around. Reina speculated this was because they wanted to see the two Elite Four members show off the skills that earned them their positions, rather than watching yet another run-of-the-mill Double Battle tournament.

Seeing their opponents facing them from the other side, Reina reminded herself that even though they were two of the most powerful Trainers in the region, thus obstacles she would have to overcome at some point, the performance they would put on here was just a mere fraction of their true abilities.

Still, to get a taster of how they battled would prove to be invaluable in her eventual conquest, so Reina decided to suck it up and enjoy this unique opportunity, regardless of this battle's outcome.

Meanwhile, Kumiko was slightly shaking in fear at the prospect in front of her. Though she knew that one of her opponents was her childhood friend, there was no telling just how much Aoi had improved in the year since they had last seen each other, especially after hearing about her impressive feats.

With Aoi battling alongside another member of the Elite Four, who was at least if not better than her, Kumiko was uncertain what the outcome of this battle would be, even when their opponents had already given themselves a massive handicap.

Sending out Orpheus and Eurydice, Kumiko and Reina watched as Aoi sent out a Duskull and Nakaseko sent out a Ferroseed. The referee confirmed that all four Trainers' Pokémon were on the battlefield and started the match. "Battle begin!"

"Orpheus, Fire Punch at Ferroseed!" Kumiko commanded, while Reina played Danse Macabre on her trumpet, signalling Eurydice to begin charging up Shadow Ball and direct it towards Aoi's Duskull.

As they saw their opponents about to attack first, Aoi and Kaori decided to let them have the first strike advantage, knowing that whatever they pulled could be countered later on. Just when Orpheus Teleported close to Kaori's Ferroseed, Aoi decided to react first. "Duskull, Will-O-Wisp!"

Before Orpheus could land his attack, Aoi's Duskull drifted close to him and blasted out blue orbs of ghostly flame. Not knowing what to do in this situation, Kumiko decided to counter her predicament logically. "Redirect your Fire Punch at the flames!"

His fist impacting the orb closest to him, Orpheus found that instead of his move absorbing the flames, the Will-O-Wisp instead converted the fire burning on his arm to their own spectral blue as the other orbs bombarded him. Seeing that Kumiko's Pokémon had successfully fallen for her move, Aoi decided to seize this opportunity. "Use Hex!"

Her Duskull shot the Fire-type move towards Orpheus, dealing double the damage now that he was burned. As Kumiko was struggling to deal with the situation at hand, Reina wasn't having much luck either.

After seeing that Orpheus was now battling Aoi's Duskull, Reina was about to tell Eurydice to fire out her attack and hit the unsuspecting Pokémon when Nakaseko moved first, seeing her other opponent currently stuck in a state of inaction. "Gyro Ball!"

Nakaseko's Ferroseed skidded across the arena's floor as it spun on its bottom spike like a top. Reina tried to attack it, but her attack missed as Ferroseed just avoided it by performing a loop before it continued on its original trajectory to attack Eurydice. Knowing that her Pokémon was about to be hit with a super-effective move, Reina gave the first command she could think of. "Eurydice, Teleport!"

Eurydice disappeared before Ferroseed could make an impact, and immediately reappeared above where she was just standing. Seeing her opponent in such a vulnerable and defenseless position, Kaori decided to exploit this fact. "Thunder Wave!"

Ferroseed launched a wave of lightning at Eurydice, who was currently still dropping from midair. Unable to dodge, she was directly hit with the paralyzing attack, and found that she could not move upon landing. Once she confirmed that her opponent's Pokémon was successfully Paralyzed, Kaori took advantage of this state. "Leech Seed!"

Several of Ferroseed's top spikes popped off and implanted themselves onto Eurydice, sprouting into saplings as the missing spikes were filled back in with replacements. Eurydice could feel her strength being sapped by the move, and could barely bring herself to stand with this and the Paralysis combined.

Kumiko could see the pain that Eurydice was in as Orpheus was fighting against the Burns inflicted on him, his power growing weaker. Gnashing her teeth, she decided to go in for another blow again. "Fire Punch!"

Teleporting closer to Nakaseko's Ferroseed, Orpheus was about to deliver a repeat attack when Aoi's Duskull phased through its teammate and intercepted the attack with a Substitute, the original Duskull having phased through the floor.

Frantically trying to determine where her opponent would emerge from, Kumiko was about to tell Orpheus to use a wide area Confusion on the ground when she saw that Duskull had somehow swapped places with its Substitute and attacked Orpheus again with Hex.

As Orpheus was sent flying back from the powerful attack, Reina was preparing to attack Saitou's Duskull with Shadow Ball, but Eurydice's Paralysis and her strength being drained by Leech Seed caused her movements to be slower, which meant that mustering up enough energy to charge up an attack had allowed Nakaseko's Ferroseed to move into position to block it with a Protect, even with its normally slow speed.

Reina continued to order Eurydice to fire off more Shadow Balls, but her slow charging speed meant that they could easily be blocked by Ferroseed, who Duskull was hiding behind.

With the battle dragging on, Kumiko and Reina found that no matter how they tried to attack their opponents' Pokémon, they would either block or dodge the attacks. All the while, Orpheus and Eurydice's health was worsening from the status conditions that had been afflicted on them.

Eventually, Eurydice collapsed first from exhaustion, followed by Orpheus shortly after, all without their opponents doing much else during that time. Seeing their condition, the referee looked at them and made a decision.

"The challengers' Pokémon are unable to battle. The winner of this exhibition match is Aoi Saitou and Kaori Nakaseko of the Elite Four!"

* * *

Walking out of the stadium, Kumiko thought that Reina was behaving much unlike her usual self. With her face all scrunched up and her footsteps loudly audible on the pavement, the icy cold aura that normally surrounded Reina had now completely melted, replaced by a scorching-hot fire that burned within her.

"Reina, what's wrong?" Kumiko asked, worried about Reina's current condition. After their battle with the Elite Four members, Reina hadn't said a word at all, leaving the stadium in complete silence.

"Don't you understand?" Reina questioned Kumiko, who slightly recoiled back in fear at her special one's sudden outburst. "That battle was humiliating! We didn't even get to do much and still lost! I hate facing stall tactics!"

"Reina, calm down." Kumiko tried to console her desired, whose eyes were starting to form tears of anger and denial. However, mere words could not stop the force of nature that was Reina Kousaka, who grasped her hands and looked her directly in the eyes.

"Kumiko, witness my vow." Reina addressed her, her voice brimming with fury and determination. "I promise to myself that I, Reina Kousaka, shall defeat Kaori Nakaseko in my Elite Four challenge. No matter how long it takes to get there, I will be more than a match for her once I face her again!"

"Uh… Reina?" Kumiko was starting to get frightened at Reina's heightened intensity. "You don't have to be so dramatic when you make a promise."

"I have to." Reina countered. "It's the only way that I'll ever make it to the top. People who don't commit to their promises will never have the chance to ever become special, and I don't want to be that type of person."

"Well, OK…" Kumiko wasn't sure how to respond to Reina after her abrupt declaration, but her inaction was thankfully interrupted by footsteps coming from behind her. Turning around, Kumiko saw Aoi approaching them, and her face conveyed a feeling of urgency, making Kumiko feel uneasy about what she was about to say.

"Kumiko, Ms. Kousaka, I have something to tell you." Aoi began. "There's something suspicious about the tournament, and I think it has something to do with you two."

"What?" Kumiko was surprised at this sudden allegation. Just what had transpired behind the scenes today? With all their wins and an eventual victory, had someone been rigging the matches in their favour?

"I first began to doubt the tournament's legitimacy when I saw the typing of the Z-Crystals." Aoi explained. "The organizer confirmed with us before the tournament that the Z-Crystals were selected at random from all eighteen types, but I found out after our battle that with the exception of the Fightinium-Z, all the Z-Crystals match the typings of your Pokémon."

"I noticed that as well." Reina added. "But surely that isn't grounds for any sort of accusation against us. Are there any other reasons to suspect this?"

"I'm not saying that you two were involved in this tournament." Aoi responded. "But it seems that the organizers have taken a special interest in you two." She took out her smartphone and showed Kumiko and Reina an unfamiliar webpage. "Did you use this site to register for the tournament?"

"No," Kumiko answered. "We got our passes from a lottery stall on the shopping street two days ago. Now that I think of it, the only reason we decided to give that a go was because Reina found the exact amount of change needed on the floor."

"Then that confirms my suspicions." Aoi continued on. "Registration for this tournament began a week ago on this site, with the lucky participants chosen at random. However, two pairs of passes were withheld from the selection. The first pair was confirmed by the organizer to have been given out four days ago, and you'll never guess who got both of them."

"Let me try. Shuichi?" Kumiko asked, causing a look of shock to appear on Aoi's face. "He told me that he received them after being accidentally kidnapped by two people who dressed like roadies."

Aoi sighed at Kumiko's remark. "...I'll never know why Shuichi always manages to get himself tangled up in such bizarre situations. Anyways, the second pair of withheld passes were only given out two days ago to you two, but the organizer never did confirm or deny this fact, making it all the more suspicious."

"In short," Aoi concluded. "It seems that whoever is behind this tournament has developed an interest in you two for an unknown reason. As this tournament was registered through several proxies, I'd advise you two to up your guard, especially since we don't know their identities."

"I think I may have an idea." Kumiko offered. "The lottery stall we went to was operated by a girl who looked like me if my hair was in a ponytail, and Shuichi also mentioned receiving his passes from someone with a similar hairstyle. Could she be somehow related to this?"

Aoi's eyes widened at what Kumiko had just told her. "Your description reminds me of a person I was helping to investigate who was in this city during the timeframe you got your passes." Taking out her smartphone, Aoi fiddled with it for a moment before showing them a familiar face. "Is is this girl?"

"Yes, that's the girl we met!' Reina exclaimed. "What does she have to do with all this?"

"The girl you saw has something to do with the leader of Death Devil, the speed metal band/unlawful organization who escaped from me several months ago." Aoi answered. "Two weeks ago, an informant sent the Pokémon League a short clip of them walking out of a building together, talking about something. While we couldn't hear much of what they said, we did learn that the girl's name was Ui."

"Ui, huh…" Kumiko pondered. "That's an uncommon name. Anything else you want us to know about?"

"Nothing so far, but the people working with me on this investigation say that we're close to a breakthrough." Aoi responded. "With this new piece of evidence, I'm sure that this will finally reveal who we're targeting after all this. Thanks to you two for helping me confirm this."

As Kumiko and Reina waved Aoi goodbye, Kumiko heard two pairs of footsteps and saw Hazuki and Midori running up towards them. Stopping in front of them, Midori looked like she was about to pass out from exhaustion, but Hazuki looked none the worse for wear.

"Hiya, Kumiko! Hiya, Reina!" Hazuki energetically greeted them. "So, how are you two feeling after getting to face the Elite Four in battle? Was it exciting? Daunting?"

"Well, it was kinda amazing even though we lost." Kumiko told her. "I mean, the way they defeated my own and Reina's Pokémon without much effort was what I expected from powerful Trainers like them. But Reina…" Kumiko trailed off after looking at how the mere mention of the battle caused Reina to lapse back into her angst once again. "She isn't taking such a cheap defeat well."

"Oh, OK then." Hazuki nonchalantly waved that off. "By the way, me and Midori are planning to challenge the Gym here first thing tomorrow, seeing how it's getting dark and our Pokémon aren't in the best condition right now. But after that, would you two mind travelling with us to Subdomi City? That's where we're planning to get our fourth Gym Badge."

"We'd like to." Reina promptly responded, then turned to Kumiko and explained her reason for agreeing. "Aside from Eigve City, Subdomi City is one of the only two cities to have a land link to Ongaku Stadium, which is through the Leger Line. Since we got the two tickets to see a rock concert there from the tournament, we could go watch it after we finish our Gym Battle there."

"Sounds like a good plan to me." Kumiko nodded her head in approval. "So, where are we meeting up tomorrow once you two finish you Gym Battle?"

"Midori suggests meeting up back here before noon," the shortest girl in the group piped up, finally having recovered from catching up with Hazuki's sprinting. "It's the one location in this city we all know how to get to, so it should be convenient for all of us."

"That's good. See you then." With Reina's parting words, she and Kumiko left for the Pokémon Center, wanting to get in some training with Orpheus and Eurydice after they had evolved.

After their friends left, Midori handed Hazuki a Rage Candy Bar. "Here. Midori forgot to give you this before the competition, Hazuki-chan. Midori's parents wanted to give you this, so they mailed it to Midori a few days ago."

"What? A Rage Candy Bar?" Hazuki was shocked. "I thought they were only sold in Johto! How did your parents get one?"

"Midori's parents just came back from a trip to Johto, and they bought one for you as a souvenir in Mahogany Town since they knew you liked sweets. They hope that you'll enjoy it!"

"Thanks a lot, Midori!" Hazuki said with a huge grin on her face, unwrapping the Rage Candy bar and prepared to stuff it into her mouth. However, as she was walking while doing so, Hazuki tripped over herself, starting to fall Rage Candy Bar-first towards the ground.

A hand grabbed her by the back of her shirt and pulled her up, causing her to let go of her Rage Candy Bar in recoil. Thankfully, another hand swooped in that direction and caught it in midair, then handed it back to Hazuki.

"Th… thanks a lot." Hazuki stammered out in gratitude, then looked up at her saviour. Even though she didn't know his name, Hazuki remembered that he was one of Kumiko's opponents in the first round of the tournament. Tall and lean, his lanky build and light brown hair made him look cool in Hazuki's eyes.

As he was about to walk away, a sudden thought struck Hazuki. "Can I have your phone number?"

"Uh… why?" Shuichi was confused. The girl he saved from falling was now asking him for his phone number? What was the logic behind that?

"Oh, nothing." Hazuki sounded sheepish. "Just in case I wanted to return that favor someday, y'know?"

"OK, sure." Taking out his phone and swapping phone numbers with the girl he had just met, Shuichi suddenly realized that he had forgotten to ask something. "By the way, I'm Shuichi. What's your name?"

"H-Hazuki." For some reason, Hazuki really liked Shuichi's down-to-earth and kind nature. Though his appearance made him look quite plain, there was this feeling around him that made her feel comfortable in his presence.

She smiled at that thought.

* * *

"Heh. I'd never thought that us four would wind up together in the same place again. Guess fate must be playing some trick on us."

Sipping on her drink, Natsuki walked alongside Yuuko, Nozomi, and Mizore as they walked out of the stadium. It had been almost a year since she and Yuuko had seen their old friends, so meeting them here by pure coincidence was a pleasant surprise, especially since they had just participated in the same tournament.

"Whatever the case, I'd never thought we'd see each other this quickly after graduation." Nozomi laughed. "I'd thought I'd have to wait until our weddings for that!"

Yuuko sighed. "Well, we'd see at least another of us there. Looking each other directly in the eyes, even."

Decoding the subtext of what Yuuko meant, a blush formed on Mizore's face as she hid her face in her hands. Oblivious to how Mizore was feeling, the other three girls continued to walk along the street until Natsuki recognized a nearby building.

"Hey, that's Lebhaft Game Center!" she noted. "It's the biggest arcade in all of Octiva! Why don't we go in and take a look?"

"Sounds good to me," Nozomi replied. "I've wanted to try out the latest DDR for a while now. What do you think, Mizore? Are you interested?"

"Where you go, I'll go…" Mizore quietly spoke, wanting to stay by Nozomi's side. Getting to play video games there didn't hurt either.

"Sheesh," Yuuko muttered. "Seeing as you dorks are all agreeing to go there, I have no choice but to join you as well. Of course, trying out Guitar Hero there seems like a good idea."

Entering the arcade, Mizore was immediately bombarded by all the flashing lights and loud noises from the cabinets there. Unable to cope with the sensory overload, she put her hands over her ears before reaching for her earbuds in her pocket and slipping them in, while also putting on a slightly tinted pair of glasses.

"You look nice in glasses, Mizore." Nozomi commented. "Why don't you wear them more often?"

Mizore blushed at the compliment. "Don't really need to. I only wear them when it's too bright."

"Well, OK then." Nozomi replied. "I'll go and check out the DDR cabinet! See you!"

With that, Nozomi ran off in her own direction, and Mizore was left truly alone after Natsuki and Yuuko went to the Guitar Hero cabinets.

Walking around the arcade on her own, Mizore looked around for games that she might be interested in playing, when she saw a peculiar sight near a Smash Brothers cabinet.

Sitting at the cabinet was a blue-haired girl with a strand of hair poking out of her head surrounded by two purple-haired girls and a pink-haired girl. Mizore wasn't too concerned about their abnormal hair colors, but at the huge pile of 500 Pokédollar coins on their side of the cabinet.

"Kona-chan, don't you think it's time to stop?" she overheard one of the purple-haired girls say. "You've been hogging this cabinet for 12 hours straight. Get some rest."

"Not now, Tsukasa," the blue-haired girl replied. "I'm only 5,000 Pokédollars away from getting four front-row seats at Aya Hirano's upcoming concert. Besides, I still haven't found someone who I can offload the spare HTT tickets to. Why is everyone such a noob here?"

Mizore recalled something that Natsuki had said to her back in middle school about wanting to see HTT, and approached the four girls at the cabinet. "What was that you said about HTT tickets?"

"Well, it's like this." the blue-haired girl explained. "I've got these four tickets to see HTT from a lucky draw, but I'm not a fan and you can't resell the tickets. I also want to see a Aya Hirano concert, so I'm raising funds by charging people 500 Pokédollars to defeat me by using the HTT tickets as a reward. Want to play against me?"

"Sure." Mizore answered. While she mostly played rhythm and strategy games, she had previously dabbled a bit in Smash Bros. after Natsuki encouraged her to. Since it was Natsuki who had introduced her to this game, this was the least she could do to pay her friend back.

Sitting at the other end of the cabinet, Mizore picked up a controller before the other girl stopped her. "Wait wait wait, pay up first! 500 Pokédollars please!"

Mizore opened up her wallet only to find a single 10,000 Pokédollar bill inside. Realizing that she would need to go somewhere else in the arcade to get some spare change, Mizore was about to leave when she heard a familiar voice. "Mizo-senpai will be using this Togepi Egg as collateral for the time being! I'll help her get some spare change!"

Looking up, Mizore saw Ririka Kenzaki and her friend, whose name she couldn't really remember (was it Kaede? Canada?). Surprised to see her, Mizore stood up and faced Ririka, who smiled at her. "Ms. Kenzaki? Why are you here?"

"I was planning to come see you at the invitational, but Kanade-chan and myself ran into some troubles on the way here, so we got delayed," Ririka explained. "But enough about that, I'll leave this Egg here until I've got some change for you!"

Knowing that she could trust Ririka, Mizore handed her the bill as she placed the egg down next to the pile of coins and scampered away with her friend. Taking up the controller once again, Mizore moved around the joystick until she picked her main Falco, noticing that her opponent had chosen Ryu.

Quickly noting that the chosen rules were a 3-stock 7-minute match, and the stage was set Battlefield, Mizore initiated the battle and waited for the three second countdown to end before making her first move.

However, her opponent got the first strike, trapping Mizore in an impressive combo that left her at 60% damage when it ended. Breaking free, Mizore struck back with a combo of her own that did 42% damage, then strung another combo which dealt 28% damage, putting her in the lead.

That advantage only lasted for a short moment, since Mizore's opponent knocked her offstage with a forward smash, then jumped off stage and launched her further with a Hadouken. Mizore tried to recover, but she was so far from the stage that despite using both Falco's side and up specials, she couldn't recover at that distance, and quickly lost a stock.

Upon being able to fight again, Mizore knocked her opponent up in the air, knowing that her chosen character couldn't really do much there. Using two up aerials then an up special, Mizore K.O.'d her opponent through the top of the screen, leaving them both even now.

At this point, there was a small crowd gathering around them to see the spectacle unfolding in front of them. With a little difficulty, Ririka and Kanade squeezed in and plinked down a 500 Pokédollar coin, took back the Egg, and dropped the rest of the change at Mizore's side, with both sides too focused on the game to notice.

When her opponent dropped back down, Mizore decided to rack up some damage first by using Falco's blaster to stun her opponent with a few shots before rushing in for another combo. Just when she was about to land the combo-starting move, her opponent countered it with a Focus Attack that left her helpless, and began another elaborate combo that almost got her past the maximum distance she could recover.

Before executing it, Mizore silently hoped that her next maneuver could work. Slamming her control stick in the direction of the stage and pressing the special button, Mizore decided to use Falco's side special to recover and bounce her opponent off the stage's underbelly at the same time. Impacting her opponent, Mizore's plan played out as she expected, her opponent falling to the depths below as she recovered upwards.

Now in a stock lead, Mizore could afford to play more recklessly, though she refrained from that option, knowing that could be her downfall in this sort of scenario. Instead, she continued her reticent playstyle, waiting for her opponent to make more mistakes, though there were none to be seen.

It seemed that Mizore's opponent had caught on to what Mizore was doing as well, tightening her own gameplay and playing more cautiously to avoid being defeated by a careless mistake. With both sides on the defensive and unwilling to budge, the action significantly diminished, prolonging the battle.

Starting to lose her edge after playing for half a day straight, Mizore's opponent wanted to get this battle over with, even though the person she was facing gave her the hardest challenge of the day. Impulsively firing out a Hadouken, hindsight smacked her in the face as she forgot that Falco had a reflector, which Mizore used to deflect the projectile back at her.

Getting her opponent in a disadvantageous state, Mizore quickly seized this opportunity, starting a combo that knocked her opponent off the stage. Seeing that her opponent played a character with horrible recovery, Mizore saw no need to deal a finishing blow now, leaving her opponent to drop to her doom.

With a shout of 'GAME!' from the in-game announcer, Mizore stood up to thunderous applause from the assembled crowd. Looking at her opponent, the other blue-haired girl took out four tickets from her pocket and handed to Mizore, and shoved the Egg back over.

"Good game! That was the best I've had all day!" she conceded, handing the tickets to Mizore before outstretching her other hand in a gesture of goodwill. Accepting her 'prize', Mizore gingerly shook her opponent's hand, not wanting to touch another person for too long.

Once the audience dispersed, Mizore took back her change, and found that she was left with Ririka and her friend. Currently cradling Ririka's Egg for some reason, she was still confused about one thing. "Why did you bring an Egg with you all the way here?"

"...I was planning to give it to you after the competition." Ririka sheepishly confessed. "So, uh… do you still want it?"

Seen just how devoted the younger girl was to her, even putting her gift on the line, Mizore just couldn't say no. She liked that type of person. Besides, having such and adorable face didn't hurt either.

"I'll take it and raise the Togepi inside well. Thank you very much, Ririka." Mizore answered, putting a huge smile on Ririka's face.

"_Once she comes back, I'll also get Nozomi to raise it with me. She'd make a great mother._" Mizore thought, smiling to herself as Ririka and Kanade wondered why the normally stoic girl had such a weird expression of joy on her face.

* * *

Now that the tournament arc has concluded and to commemorate this fic getting 1000 hits on AO3, I've decided to host a Q&A session! Drop your questions about anything in this fic down in the review section, and I'll try to answer all of them (except for those related to future events and spoilers). No question is a stupid question!


	24. Chapter 24: At the End of the Day

"Kumiko-chan, Reina-chan, sorry to keep you waiting!"

Turning back to look at Hazuki and Midori, Kumiko and Reina breathed a sigh of relief in unison. Despite greatly oversleeping after binge-watching a series on Netflix late into the night, their friends had thankfully arrived later than them.

"How was your Gym Battle, you two?" Kumiko asked, wanting to know their results.

"I did alright, went down to the wire with Staccato against the Gym Leader's Shiinotic." Hazuki answered. "Thanks to his Grass typing, he was immune to Leech Seed and other tricks that were thrown at him! But you should have seen Midori! Her Flabébé evolved into Floette in the middle of her match, and swept the Gym Leader! That was so awesome!"

"Well, Midori thinks that was just a lucky fluke," Midori commented. "Midori didn't expect that would happen. Anyways, let's get going! We're already late! Both of us overslept this morning!"

Laughing at their shared plight, the four girls headed towards the road leading to the outskirts of Edian City. As the group approached the city limits after a while of walking, Kumiko could hear two sets of footsteps running up from behind her, accompanied by someone calling out her name. "Kumiko-senpai, we need your help!"

Knowing that only one person in her entire social circle referred to her like that, Kumiko turned around and saw Kanade catching up to her, followed by a nearly out-of-breath Ririka.

"Kanade, Ririka?" Kumiko seemed confused. "What are you two doing here? I thought you lived in Perto City."

"I'll try and explain, but it's mostly Ririka-chan's fault in the first place." Kanade confessed, eliciting a friendly glare from Ririka. "Ririka-chan wanted to see her idol Mizore fight at the Double Battle invitational yesterday and give her a Togepi Egg, but we got sidetracked on the way to Edian City and barely missed the end of the tournament. Congratulations to you and Reina on winning, by the way."

"But thankfully, I managed to give Mizo-senpai my present!" Ririka happily added, clasping her hands together in delight. "After we left the stadium, I saw an advert for a huge Buneary plush. It was being offered as the grand prize for a claw game at this city's arcade, so Kanade-chan and I went there!"

"Once we got there, we saw Ms. Yoroizuka sitting at a Smash Bros. machine, and it seemed like she was in a money match with her opponent." Kanade continued. "Since she only had a 10,000 Pokédollar bill, Ririka-chan left her Togepi Egg there as collateral and went to get some spare change. Ririka-chan got back in time to watch Ms. Yoroizuka win and officially gave her the Egg."

"Though I didn't manage to get the Buneary plush…" Ririka lamented. "1,000 Pokédollars wasted! Anyways, we stayed the night here and planned to return back to Perto City earlier today, but for some reason we both overslept and missed our train!"

"That's why we need your help!" Kanade concluded. "You've got a Kirlia, right? Could you please Teleport us back to Perto City?"

Seeing how desperately Kanade was pleading, Kumiko had no choice but to oblige, though it wouldn't delay her own departure by much. "Fine, but this is Orpheus' first time Teleporting without locking on to another Psychic-type Pokémon, so we may be off by a certain distance. Is that OK with you two?"

"We'll be fine," Ririka answered. "We can make it home by ourselves from a certain distance, and even if we run into any trouble, we've got our own Pokémon with us."

"Seems fair." Kumiko replied, then sent out Orpheus. "OK, remember where Perto City was?" she asked him, to which he answered with a nod. "Can you Teleport there?" Another nod.

Holding on to one of Orpheus' red horns, Kumiko held onto Kanade's shoulder, while the younger girl free hand was entwined with Ririka's. With a flash of light, all three girls disappeared, leaving Reina, Hazuki, and Midori standing there.

"Wait, who were they, and what just happened?" Hazuki asked, causing Reina to realize that no formal introductions had been made.

"Well, it all began after Kumiko and I met an Elite Four member…" Reina started to explain as Hazuki and Midori listened intently, wanting to know just what Kumiko had gotten herself tangled into after they separated.

* * *

With the familiar yet indescribable sensation that she felt when Teleporting, Kumiko found herself in a forest clearing with Ririka and Kanade in an instant. Seeing that they were not in Perto City, Kumiko only knew one place in its immediate vicinity they could have warped to.

"We're in Reed Forest, aren't we?" Kanade asked. "That's the only place in Octiva where the tree cover is this thick."

"Yeah, most likely." Kumiko answered. "Last time I was here, I had someone to guide me, so I didn't get lost along the way. Unless if one of you two know a way to get out quickly, then I'm afraid we're going to be stuck here for quite a while."

"Well, we've been here enough times to know-" Kanade was suddenly cut off by an ominous humming surrounding the trio that grew louder. Kumiko saw flashes of yellow and black before a massive swarm of Beedrill came fully into view, gleaming stingers pointed in their direction.

Sending out all her Pokémon, Kumiko gestured for Kanade and Ririka to stay behind her. "Get back! I'll handle this!"

"No you won't, Kumiko-senpai." Kanade retorted, bringing out a Pokéball as Ririka did the same. "We've got our own Pokémon, and we're perfectly capable of defending ourselves. Scherzo, play on!"

A Shinx leapt out of Kanade's Pokéball and glared at the Beedrill as a Happiny appeared next to it, looking at Ririka for orders on what to do next. Seeing that their Pokémon were only in their basic form and thus most likely quite weak, Kumiko decided to take the initiative here. "I'll do the heavy lifting! Marcato, Poison Jab! Orpheus, Confusion! Sparkle, Thunderbolt!"

As Kumiko's Pokémon used their most effective moves, Ririka and Kanade knew that they needed to contribute as well, not wanting to drag Kumiko down, despite their drastic difference in strength.

"Scherzo, Fire Fang!" Kanade commanded her Shinx, who leaped at the nearest Beedrill with a mouth red-hot with flames and dragged it down, repeatedly crunching with its super-effective move.

"Piacevole, Psychic!" Ririka ordered, her Happiny firing out a burst at a nearby swarm, knocking them backwards.

Seeing the younger girls managing to hold their own, Kumiko could now relax and fully focus on defeating the Beedrill, but she still didn't let her guard down, doing the bulk of the work. After a while of blasting through the swarm, all the Beedrill were finally defeated, laying down on the ground in defeat.

"Phew, I'm glad that's over." Kanade commented, taking out her phone. "Now we can fully concentrate on getting back to Perto City. Kumiko, can you Teleport us closer? I can use the GPS on my phone to give out directions if needed."

"Oh yeah!" Kumiko remarked. "Why didn't I think of doing that sooner? We could have avoided this mess in the first place!"

"Well, you live and learn." Kanade replied. "Believe me, this isn't the worst disaster I've faced. Not by a long shot."

Slowly zeroing in closer to Perto City, the three girls finally reached their destination after 5 minutes of repeated trial and error. Warping into the town center, Kanade and Ririka said their thanks and were about to bid Kumiko farewell, but then Kumiko remembered something.

"Wait, didn't you two say that you both overslept today?" Kumiko asked. "It's quite a bit of a strange coincidence, since all my friends I was travelling with also slept in. Did either of you two notice anything unusual with that?"

"Now that you mention it, I did," Kanade answered. "Shortly after I woke up, I saw a pitch-black Pokémon hanging by the window and looking inside the room before disappearing back into the shadows. If I remember my Pokémon mythology classes correctly, then that should've be Darkrai."

"Yeah, that sounds like it." Kumiko commented. "It must have been passing by Edian City early this morning, though why it caused everyone to suddenly go to sleep is beyond me. Anyways, I've got to get back to my friends now! They're waiting for me!"

After one more round of farewells, Kumiko sent out Orpheus and instructed him to lock onto Eurydice's Psychic signature, Teleporting away once more. Watching the older girl disappear, Kanade turned to Ririka.

"Shouldn't we have mentioned that Darkrai seemed to have been skulking around with someone, Ririka-chan?" she mentioned, causing them both to collectively facepalm at missing such an important detail.

* * *

Finally departing Edian City with her friends after her unexpected detour, Kumiko stared at the Z-Power Ring on her left wrist reflecting the rays of sunlight shining down on it and realized something. "Reina, we forgot to test using Z-Moves with our Pokémon yesterday! You said they were the key to making us stronger!"

"Well, I didn't feel well back then, so I forgot all about what I even entered the competition for in my bad mood." Reina admitted. "Let's test them out in a clearing, shall we? I've heard they're some of the strongest moves a Pokémon can use."

"Who should have the honor of trying them out first?" Kumiko asked, wondering which of their Pokémon would be most suited to harnessing the power of these special moves. "I'll use Marcato since he's the Pokémon I've had the longest, unless if they put too much strain on him during the process."

"Any Pokémon can use a Z-Move and not suffer any aftereffects provided their Trainer has the right Z-Crystal for the move they want to power up," Reina explained. "I'll have Idina try it out as well for the same reason as you."

"Ooh! This is going to be exciting!" Hazuki energetically commented. "I can't wait to see what these ultimate moves will look like! I betcha they'll be flashy and awesome! What do you think, Midori?"

"Midori thinks they'll help Kumiko-chan and Reina-chan a lot in battles!" the short girl added, trying to think up adjectives to use. "They're going to be wonderful to see in person!"

Seeing a clearing in front of them, Reina decided to drop her bag down without a word to her friends and sent out Idina, her Froslass doing a midair twirl after being summoned. Slipping the Icium Z in her Z-Power Ring, Reina thought of Idina using the coldest move possible, and her Z-Power Ring glowed with the energy of her willpower.

As Kumiko, Hazuki, and Midori looked on, Reina's body seemed to move on its own, doing a strange and funky set of dance moves that ended with her thrusting her hands out towards Idina. Her Pokémon glowed with an orange aura, and Idina rose up on a pillar of ice before firing out a massive beam of frigid energy which grew into gigantic spikes of ice upon impact with the ground, exploding in a blast of icy wind.

Reaffirming herself after using the attack, Reina looked slightly exhausted, but she had a small smile on her face. "Well, that was more tiring than I expected. Still, that was really powerful, wouldn't you say? If I had used that on another Pokémon, that would have been knocked out quite easily."

"Yeah, that was cool." Kumiko responded, noting the accidental pun she had made. "Seeing you use a move like that without much effort really makes me want to try it out myself."

Sending out Marcato, Kumiko's starter Pokémon did a somersault in midair before landing on the ground. Taking a deep breath before placing the Grassium Z into her own Z-Power Ring, Kumiko just thought about Marcato using Wood Hammer to turn the tide of many battles, knowing that it was his strongest move.

Feeling the bizarre sensation of her body moving on its own, Kumiko felt like a ragdoll being thrown along for the ride, complying with the strange actions before finally stretching her arms outwards. Marcato was surrounded by the same orange aura that had previously enveloped Idina, and a gigantic field of flowers rapidly sprung up around him.

An instant later, all the flowers except the ones closest to Marcato and the four girls simultaneously exploded in rose-shaped clouds of light, creating strong impacts that rang across the sky. Once the illumination had died down, the ground was restored to its original grassy state, seemingly regenerated by the aftereffects of Marcato's attack.

"What the…" Kumiko looked at the carnage (or surprising lack of it) that Marcato had caused. Though Marcato was capable of holding his own in battle, Kumiko never could have imagined that he could deal such devastating damage. "That was amazing, Marcato!"

Unfortunately, her strength chose this moment to give out, and Kumiko was about to fall to her knees before she regained feeling in her legs. As her friends looked on, Kumiko shook off that sudden faux pas. "Whew, that was tiring. You OK now, Reina?"

"Yes, I have fully recovered." Reina calmly responded. "Using one Z-Move per battle is the League-mandated limit, and I think we just found out why it was set. One more time and we certainly would have passed out."

"Woah…" Hazuki looked on, bedazzled by what she saw. The sheer spectacle of the Z-Moves that Kumiko and Reina just used made her want to get a Z-Ring of her own, so she could also use those powerful attacks as well. "That was awesome! Can you do it one more time! Well, obviously after you've recovered enough, of course."

Unfortunately, Hazuki's stomach picked this exact moment to begin growling, and she tried but failed to hide a blush of embarrassment, prompting Kumiko and Midori to laugh while Reina looked on with a bemused face.

"Don't worry, Hazuki-chan!" Midori reassured her. "I'll cook up some lunch for you! Wanna help, Kumiko-chan, Reina-chan?"

"Sure!" Kumiko offered. "I'll help you, since Reina's quite inexperienced at cooking." Turning to her travelling companion, Kumiko addressed her. "Don't worry, Reina. Just sit back, relax, and you'll get a delicious meal delivered straight to your mouth soon!"

"OK, then I'll do some training with Hazuki in the meantime." Reina replied. Though Pokémon battles were her forte, Reina couldn't help but feel left out of the cooking, simply because she wasn't good enough at it.

One more thing to work towards for her.

* * *

Finishing lunch, the four girls were back on the road again, continuing their trek to Subdomi City, battling any wild Pokémon they encountered on their way there, though no new captures were made. Along the way, they could see the soil on the ground get progressively darker, until the last blades of grass disappeared, with only pitch-black dirt remaining.

"We must be close to Subdomi City now." Reina remarked. "Since it's built on the side of a volcano, the surrounding ground is full of minerals from eruptions, which darkens the soil, but kills plants without proper agricultural techniques."

"Wow, you know so much, Reina." Hazuki was seriously impressed by the amount of knowledge that Reina possessed. Not only was she an excellent Trainer, providing invaluable advice to Hazuki during their pre-lunch training session, but she seemed to know a little bit about everything.

"Of course I do. Having a wide range of knowledge is needed to train Pokémon and win battles effectively, so I often read up on different topics relating to battles." Reina explained, though she internally admitted that her last statement seemed quite boastful.

Looking at the setting sun, Kumiko could see the volcano that Reina had previously described up ahead, but judging by their current distance, they wouldn't make it by nightfall.

Signalling to Reina, Kumiko asked her about their plans for the night, wanting to know what they were going to do in this situation. "Are we camping out for the night near here and head to the city tomorrow? Or do you know of somewhere we can stay in this area?"

"Well, there are quite a lot of hot spring resorts in Subdomi City proper, but those are quite expensive since the spring water up there is more pure." Reina answered. "On the other hand, I know that one or two hot spring resorts operate around these outskirts, and they're much cheaper, though the service and amenities are almost the same."

"Yay! Hot springs are the best!" Hazuki piped up. "There's no better way to relax at the end of the day than to soak in warm water and let your muscles loosen? C'mon, let's go to the nearest one! I can't wait!"

"Hold up." Reina interrupted. "Before we go anywhere, we need to find out where exactly we're heading first. We don't want to rush impulsively with nowhere in mind and end up lost, right?"

"Right." Though there was a bit of sullenness in Hazuki's voice, she knew that Reina was right. During their training, Reina had noted that Hazuki seemed to act first without thinking, causing her to make predictable and easy-to-avoid mistakes. Seeing that Hazuki's battling style resembled her own, Reina decided to give her some tips based on her own experience, which Hazuki readily accepted.

Taking out her phone, Reina scrolled through a list of hot spring resort locations, until finally settling on one she considered optimal and showing her choice to the other girls. "This one's about half a kilometer away, has decent ratings, and is quite cheap. What do you think?"

"Sounds good to Midori!" Midori responded, while Kumiko and Hazuki nodded their heads in approval. Following the directions on her phone and leading the way, Reina's mind wandered towards the only unknown variable in their group, who was currently chatting with her friends.

After their previous conversation, Reina had noticed that though Midori seemed like a generic bubbly cute girl on the surface, she was actually far more crafty and intelligent than one would assume, having revealed herself as the brains behind her team's strategy in the Double Battle tournament.

In terms of battling power, Reina suspected that Midori had been holding back in their battle yesterday, mainly because of what Hazuki had mentioned about her exploits in her previous Gym battles. She thought that in her case, Midori was trying to give Hazuki a chance to shine, rather than unfairly dominate over her friend, though this had cost them their match.

However, the most glaring issue in Reina's mind was that despite her prowess in battle, Midori seemed to have no apparent goal other than travelling with Hazuki. Though she was challenging the Gyms, this was most likely to accompany Hazuki doing so, rather than to prove her own self-worth.

Could she have any ulterior motives in mind, making her persona all a ruse?

Sighing, Reina decided not to press this issue further, seeing that Midori had only treated her with kindness so far. Approaching the hot spring resort building, Reina decided to take this opportunity to get to know Hazuki and Midori better, hopefully figuring out what their aspirations were in the process.

Entering the main building, the four girls were greeted by an attendant behind the reception. "Good evening, young ladies. Would you like to book a stay here for the night?"

"Yes, one shared room between the four of us, please." Reina answered for her friends. Despite this arrangement meant not being able to share a room with Kumiko only, it was much cheaper this way.

"OK, then may I have your Trainer IDs please?" the attendant asked them, which the four girls handed over. Scanning them under a laser, the attendant's eyes perked up. "That's interesting. A previous guest already paid for all of you, and specifically you four girls, not the next four guests."

Hearing this new piece of information, Kumiko couldn't help but feel a little bit creeped out. Just who had been expecting them here? A stalker?

"Who paid for that? Do you know?" Reina's next words perfectly echoed the thoughts that were going through Kumiko's mind. At the rate events were unfolding, she wouldn't be surprised to see that it was Tuba-kun who was expecting them.

"Before checking in themselves, the person left an unsigned note," the attendant explained. "It said they were someone two of you would know, and they had important news to pass on."

"Well, Midori thinks that seeing we've got a cake here, we might as well eat it," Midori concluded. "Besides, even if this turns out to be some sort of prank, we could use Kumiko-chan and Reina-chan's Kirlia to escape anytime."

"Sounds good to me then!" Hazuki finally commented, with Kumiko and Reina nodding in approval of Midori's plan. Judging by Midori's words, Reina thought that she may have let slip a part of her true nature again.

Thanking the attendant for their hospitality, the group headed to their assigned room and dropped off their bags, but kept their Pokéballs with them. Before they had arrived, Reina had informed the other girls that there was also a Pokémon-exclusive hot spring, so they could let their partners relax as well.

Going to the changing room area, the four girls sent out all their Pokémon in the foyer. While they had a sizeable number of Pokémon in total, Reina had checked that the Pokémon-exclusive hot spring could easily accommodate thrice the amount of Pokémon they currently had.

"All right, you guys and girls!" Hazuki addressed the quartets' assembled Pokémon. "We're now at a hot spring resort, which means that you can let loose and chill in the soothing warm water."

"Um, Hazuki-chan?" Midori interrupted. "I'm not sure thermodynamics works that way."

"Well, whatever." Hazuki brushed off Midori's pedanticism. "Anyways, have fun! You've got an entire hot spring to yourselves, so go nuts!"

As their Pokémon hurried off to their side of the hot spring, the four girls went into the ladies changing room. Once inside, they began to undress, placing their clothes into the baskets provided. Despite wanting to peek at Reina badly, Kumiko constantly averted her gaze, not wanting to tempt herself with Reina's luscious body until they were safely in the hot springs, where the steam would obscure everything.

Waiting until Reina had left the changing room, Kumiko exited herself, wrapping a towel over her unclothed body to stay warm and dry herself off once she was done soaking in the sulphuric hot water. Sliding open the door that separated the changing room and the hot springs, Kumiko stepped outside and was immediately blitzed by the chilly air.

Walking towards the hot springs, Kumiko noticed that the stone floor beneath her feet was starting to get more wet as she got farther from the changing room. Accidentally treading on a patch of water the wrong way, Kumiko slipped and found herself landing in the ground's direction

Almost. Before she could fall even half the distance, Kumiko found her face impacting on something soft, springy, and very large, dropping her own towel in the process. Recovering after the initial crash, Kumiko looked up and came face-to-face with Reina, who was currently staring at her with an inquisitive look in her eyes.

It was at this moment that Kumiko quickly realized that her head was currently nestled between her desired's ample bust.

Picking up her own towel in an instant, Kumiko quickly scurried away from Reina, not even bothering to make further eye contact with her. Submerging herself in the nearest hot spring, Kumiko wished that the warm water would wash her away after that embarrassing scenario, all the while burying her head deep into her hands.

Meanwhile, Reina quietly slipped into the hot spring herself, her mind frantically working to repress what just happened, though it was failing catastrophically. That instant of Kumiko sharing physical contact with her where she was sensitive proved too irresistible to forget, and Reina lamented that she didn't use her hands to keep Kumiko in that position for a longer period of time.

Though a distance away, Kumiko also felt the same way, wanting to remain trapped in Reina's above-average assets and continue to share that moment of physical contact with her, especially when being stuck in such a gratuitous area.

Longing for more of that gentle warmth in such cool air, Kumiko stuck her head beneath the heated body of water, hoping to at least gain a trace of that feeling again. Instead, what awaited her down there was a sparkling pair of blue eyes.

"GWAHHHHHHHH!" With a sudden muffled cry underwater, Kumiko's head immediately bobbed up away from the water, splashing droplets everywhere in the vicinity. As she was trying to process the situation at hand, she was greeted by a figure gracefully rising up who possessed a pair of breasts more plentiful than even Reina's.

"Can't greet your senpai normally, Oumae-chan?" a familiar voice rang through her ears as the water drained out of them. "What bad manners you have!"

Staring up, Kumiko was initially puzzled at just who was standing there, with the glistening black hair and azure eyes seeming so familiar yet foreign. Seeing Kumiko's confounded reaction, the woman made a circle with each of her hands and placed them in front of her face. "Oh~, I get it now! Oumae-chan hasn't seen me without glasses before! That's why you don't recognize me!"

"A-Asuka?" Piecing together what she currently knew, Kumiko knew that there was only one person it could be. "Wh- How? Why are you here?"

"Uh-uh, Oumae-chan, not yet!" Asuka swatted her question away with ease, seemingly waiting for something to happen. As for what Asuka was expecting, Kumiko had a feeling about what was going to happen as she could hear large amounts of water being parted away.

"Kumiko, what happened?" Hazuki's voice called out as she came into view along with Midori, stopping just as she was close enough to take a good look at Asuka. "Wow… who are you?"

"Ah, Ms. Katou and Ms. Kawashima, perfect timing." Asuka remarked. "Now, where's Ms. Kousaka? She should be here along with you three."

Hearing more water being sloshed, Kumiko turned to see Reina, who was currently wading over, a look of concern painted on her face. "Kumiko, are you alright? I just heard you scream earlier."

However, Reina's warm expression iced up in an instant upon seeing Asuka, who had moved closer to Kumiko and her arms were stretching out towards Reina's special one with a leery glint in her eyes. "Please stop."

With those two words from Reina, Asuka immediately froze on the spot, her hands not moving anymore. "OK. Now that you four are all here, we can finally move on to why I'm here. Let's sit down and talk, shall we?"

Adjusting herself, Asuka rested herself on an outcrop of rock meant for sitting in the water, her massive bosom floating in the water before she finally got settled. As the other four girls sat themselves down, Reina shuffled closer to Kumiko, not wanting her to get distracted by Asuka.

"In case you didn't know me, like Oumae-chan here previously," Asuka gestured towards Kumiko, who blushed in embarrassment. "I'll quickly introduce myself. I'm Asuka Tanaka, Grass-type specialist of the Elite Four."

"You're all probably wondering why I'm here, and how I knew you four would be coming." Asuka began. "Normally, I wouldn't meet with you girls in a place like this, but since I don't know if anyone's monitoring us, I booked all the rooms in the nearby hot spring resorts to prevent anyone from electronically recording us. I assumed that you all were heading to Subdomi City after yesterday's tournament, and Teleported here once I-"

Asuka's rant was cut off by Reina, who seemed mildly ticked off. "Get to the point. What is your purpose here?"

"Fine, fine." Asuka relented. "The reason I wanted to meet up with you four is because of a discovery we at the Pokémon League made yesterday. Oumae-chan and Ms. Kousaka should know about this, but we're currently doing a massive investigation, and we just learned that it had a connection with the tournament that all of you participated in yesterday."

"Then why are we all here? Shouldn't this be kept a secret?" Kumiko asked. confused about why Asuka would reveal this sensitive information to them.

"We believe that you and Ms. Kousaka are being targeted for some reason, and that Ms. Katou and Ms. Kawashima may be as well, so we wanted to inform you as soon as possible." Asuka explained. "Thanks to you four taking part in the tournament yesterday, we've finally found what we're looking for." She paused for a moment. "Have you heard of the rock band Hokago Tea Time?"

"Well, a little bit." Hazuki replied. "I know they're an-all girl band that's famous, but nothing much other than that."

"We suspect they're the ones tracking Oumae-chan and Ms. Kousaka for some reason, but we're still not sure why." Asuka continued. "The reason we believe this is because not only were tickets to their upcoming concert offered as one of the tournament's prizes, the lottery that you two won to enter the tournament was run by the younger sister of the band's lead guitarist."

"So that's who she was." Reina realized. "You're now suspecting that they rigged the entire tournament just to give us tickets for their concert and lure us into a trap, right?"

"See, that's the most fishy part." Asuka remarked. "During the tournament, Aoi-chan had one of her Ghost-type Pokémon out to sense for any status moves used by Pokémon not battling and couldn't sense anything, so you two won fair and square. However, the fact that someone so closely related to the band just so happened to run a lottery stall where you two got your tournament passes already raises multiple alarm bells."

"What do you suggest we should do then?" Reina asked. "Not go to the concert?"

"On the contrary." Asuka replied. "The concert is being held at Ongaku Stadium, which is also where League battles take place, so if anything happens to you two, we're always prepared to deal with it. Besides, you two going would possibly allow them to reveal what their true motives are, since you're the ones they're tracking."

"Fair enough." Kumiko admitted, then dots began to connect in her mind. "Is the logo for Hokago Tea Time a purple star with the words HTT inside them?"

"Yes, why?" Asuka questioned.

"We've actually run into people wearing shirts with that logo twice before." Kumiko recounted. "The first time was when Reina and myself were protecting the Ralts we would later catch from their harassment, and the second time was when they were apparently scanning something in the maze between Perto City and Edian City, where they mentioned something called the Messa di Voce. I wonder if you would know anything about that."

Upon hearing what Kumiko had to say, Asuka swiftly rose up from the water, her stunning figure on full display, and began to walk towards the changing room as she turned back to look at the remaining four girls. "...Then that may explain what they're after. Sorry for the sudden departure, but I've got to report this important information back to the League. Once we're done, I'll contact you again. Adios!"

As Asuka disappeared back into the mist, Kumiko turned to Reina. "What do you think she's figured out?"

"I have no idea." Reina replied. "But whatever it is, if it made Ms. Tanaka depart that quickly, then it is certainly nothing good."

* * *

Above the hot spring the four girls were relaxing in, an Abra mentally recorded the conversation they just had with Asuka Tanaka, levitating with its psychic powers. Once the Elite Four member had left, it immediately Teleported back to where it came from.

"Mugi-chan, look!" a girl's voice spoke out. "One of the Abra you sent to track the Elite Four returned! I wonder what it managed to find out?"

"Let's see, shall we?" the blond-haired girl replied, sending out one of the Pokémon she had on hand. "Gardevoir, use your Telepathy to link our minds with Abra's."

As their mentor entered the room to see what all the commotion was about, images of the conversation that happened in the hot springs quickly flashed through her mind, getting her up to speed on what the most powerful Elite Four member was up to.

Once the transmission ended, the two girls turned to their long-time instructor for guidance. "What should we do next, Sawa-chan-sensei?"

"Let them come." Sawako Yamanaka replied. "No matter what they've got up their sleeves, they're no match for the power of Rock!"


	25. Chapter 25: Through the Fire and Flames

Marcato blinked.

Being a cactus, the majority of his body was composed of water, so soaking in a hot spring was like resting in a slice of heaven. However, this state of pure relaxation had suddenly just been disturbed by someone poking him, taking him out of the complete bliss he had been feeling.

Swearing up and down to completely and utterly destroy the poor soul that had made the grave mistake of making him angry, he whirled around only to see Orpheus standing in the water next to him.

Surprised to see his teammate being the one to disrupt him, Marcato sincerely hoped that this was a genuine emergency involving their Trainers as well, or else Orpheus would be on the receiving end of ten thousand Wood Hammers.

As Marcato glared at Orpheus, the Kirlia simply gestured at the pipe that water was originally coming out of, which had now stopped its flowing for some reason. While Marcato hadn't felt it at first, it was starting to become apparent that this had been the case for a while, as the water was starting to cool down in the chilly air.

Hopping out of the hot spring, Marcato looked around to see if any of the Pokémon present with them were responsible for this. Seeing as there were no Water-type Pokémon present, the most obvious suspects in this case were immediately ruled out.

The next likely to disable the water dispensers were the Ice-type Pokémon, who could easily freeze the water all the way back to its source, and maintain the temperature of the ice to prevent it from melting. However, this didn't hold up since the only Ice-type Pokémon present were Idina and Demi, whose bodies couldn't tolerate the heat of normal hot springs, so they were currently relaxing in the cold water baths, a distance away from the regular hot springs.

Following up were the Psychic-type Pokémon, which Marcato mentally crossed out as well, since this category only included Orpheus and Eurydice, who were standing next to him and looking completely at ease respectively, lacking the focus that was needed for sustaining a Psychic barrier.

Sighing, Marcato hopped over to where the water pipe was, hoping to find some clues as to what had caused the sudden blockage in water. Reaching several Mega Drain tendrils into the pipe, Marcato felt around for anything blocking it, before sensing something squishy inside.

Attempting to wrap his tendrils around it, Marcato was surprised as it managed to dodge his every strike by shifting its mass around the pipe, sending sudden jets of hot water flying into his face. Getting angry at whatever hid inside for almost scalding him, Marcato used more tendrils to restrict its movement before finally ensnaring it.

Pulling on the thing blocking the water, it still used all its might to resist Marcato's strength. Despite the Mega Drain doing its work on whatever he captured, Marcato was starting to get exhausted at this tug-of-war. Seeing Marcato slowly losing his grip, Sparkle went over and tugged on him as well, giving her teammate a much-needed assist in his struggle.

After a while of tugging, Sparkle and Marcato finally managed to overpower whatever was in the pipe with one final pull. However, it seemed they used too much force to do so, as they fell down into the hot springs when it finally came out. The naturally-occuring static electricity in Sparkle's wool discharged itself in the water, electrocuting all the other Pokémon currently soaking in the hot springs.

Hearing the sounds of the other Pokémon being shocked, Idina and Demi looked in the direction of the ruckus to see what had happened. Upon glimpsing at the carnage caused by Sparkle's accidental burst of power, they both exited the cold water pool and went over to check if the other Pokémon were all right.

Around the hot spring, basically every Pokémon on the four girls' teams had been rendered unconscious by Sparkle's stored electricity, even though some of them had typing that resisted it. Scanning the area to see what caused Sparkle to unleash her full strength all of a sudden, Idina glanced over at the water as something splashed around, causing sizable ripples to appear in the water.

As she had battled against many Water-type Pokémon before, Idina immediately recognized the movements as those that only a Pokémon accustomed to an aquatic environment could make. Quickly freezing a loose perimeter around where the ripples were, Idina hoped to lure out whatever was hiding there, even if she had to completely encase it in solid ice.

As her ice closed in on the mystery Pokémon, Idina glance over at Demi, who was currently poking at a Shroomish starting to get back up. If Idina remembered correctly, its name was Staccato, and she belonged to the girl with the pink hairclip who wasn't that talented at battling. Realizing who her Trainer was, Idina hoped that she hadn't gotten itself hurt that much, even though Grass-types were naturally resistant to electricity.

Nearby, Midori's Floette Valse also stirred back to consciousness, going over to Tuba-kun and Macaroon's side to help her teammates recover with a Heal Bell, its sonorous sound also waking up the other Pokémon present.

Shaking his head, Marcato quickly recalled what had happened just before he got knocked out, and glared at Sparkle for letting the static electricity in her wool continuously build up without discharging it periodically. Sheepishly rubbing her head with her hand, Sparkle apologized to Marcato before glancing over at the area that Idina had just frozen, where only a small circle of water remained.

All Pokémon present went over to that small opening, hoping to figure out just what had caused them so much grief and suffering in the first place (aside from Sparkle). As if alerted by the presence of more Pokémon, the splashes grew more rapid and became louder, seemingly acting as a warning to deter any of them from taking action.

However, Eurydice seemed unaffected by these sorts of threats, and she quickly precision-guided a psychically-compressed Shadow Ball into the opening before anyone else could make an attempt at stopping her rash actions, dropping it in like a bomb.

Eurydice quickly released her telekinetic grip, and the compressed Shadow Ball exploded under the water, causing an impromptu geyser to shoot up as all Pokémon present got soaked once more in the hot springs, this time involuntarily.

As the water thrown into the air rained down as a light foggy drizzle, Marcato saw a Pokémon about a third of his height plop down in front of him and began waddling to the part of the hot springs that wasn't frozen. Realizing that it was the culprit behind all this, Marcato quickly used his Mega Drain tendrils to ensnare it before it could escape back into the water. Reeling it back in, Marcato could now clearly see what Pokémon they were dealing with.

Its blue body housing a red gem with a yellow dot below it, the Pokémon Marcato had captured was squirming in his grasp, its stubby legs preventing it from running away while its long arms swatted helplessly at the air. Looking around its surroundings with its onion-shaped head, its two antennae flung around wildly, barely missing Marcato several times.

Though Marcato hadn't seen this Pokémon before, he had heard stories about it from the other Pokémon at the laboratory before he met Kumiko. If memory served him correctly, then this Pokémon was the Mythical guardian of the sea Manaphy.

Confused as to what such an elusive Pokémon was doing so far from its natural habitat, the other Pokémon began to crowd around Marcato as they gasped at the Manaphy he was holding. Feeling happy that it was receiving so much attention, Manaphy clapped its hands in delight, clearly not being able to read the room.

While Marcato deliberated with the other Pokémon about what to do with Manaphy since it had caused them so much trouble, the Seafaring Pokémon noticed that its captor was starting to be distracted, causing the bonds holding it to be slightly loosened. Changing its body shape to become smaller than its restraints, Manaphy was able to escape from Marcato's grasp, about to make a run for it and find a new body of water to live in.

However, Staccato noticed the Manaphy sneaking away, and the Shroomish fired out a stream of Bullet Seeds at the escaping Pokémon, impeding its plan and alerting the other Pokémon simultaneously.

Disappointed that it had been caught, Manaphy knew that it had no choice but to fight now. Summoning a large wave of water behind it, Manaphy unleashed a Surf at the horde of Pokémon chasing it, pushing them all away while it swam in the opposite direction, hoping this would serve as a good enough distraction for it to reach the drain pipe.

In the split second before the water reached her, Staccato jumped up and spat out another stream of Bullet Seeds in Manaphy's direction, hoping to delay it enough for the more powerful Pokémon to recover and pick up her slack.

After the water cleared away, Staccato saw that even though Manaphy hadn't escaped thanks to her efforts, the other Pokémon had been washed too far away to quickly come and assist her or launch long-range attacks accurately. While she wasn't the best fighter of the bunch, she still had to do something here and give that Manaphy what it deserved.

Spitting more Bullet Seeds out, Manaphy constantly jumped around in an effort to dodge Staccato's attack, but her relative inaccuracy helped more that it hindered here. Since her seed stream wasn't tightly focused at one point, the projectiles were dispersed over a wider area, leaving less room for Manaphy to maneuver around.

Manaphy threw out another Surf in retaliation, but this time Staccato was too close to dodge it properly. Idina was about to get closer and use an Ice Beam to freeze the incoming wave, but she would have been too late to do so anyways. All Pokémon present sighed at how the managed to let their tormentor get away scot-free as the Surf washed over Staccato, completely covering her.

With the water slowly beginning to drain away, most likely allowing Manaphy to escape, the remaining Pokémon were beginning to go back to soaking in the now-functioning hot springs when an elongated arm shot out of the water, holding a wriggling Manaphy by its antennae.

All eyes turned to see who had captured Manaphy, and saw that not only was Staccato responsible for apprehending the culprit behind all this, but she had evolved into a Breloom as well. Slamming her extended arm down onto the ground, the pinned Manaphy could only quiver in fear as every single Pokémon smiled at it with a sinister grin, preparing to give it its well-deserved payback for causing them all this strife.

Pummeled by attacks of all types, what ultimately did in Manaphy was Tuba-kun managing to grab ahold of it, swinging it around for a while, and finally throwing it out of the hot springs with a twinkle in the sky.

As all Pokémon present high-fived each other to celebrate getting rid of their tormentor, Marcato hopped back and looked at the now-flowing water pipe that Manaphy had initially occupied, which was pumping out hot spring water normally without any trouble.

While it certainly made sense that a Water-type would choose to hide in an aquatic environment, Marcato couldn't think of a reason why a Pokémon that normally resided in the ocean such as Manaphy would suddenly choose to live in hot spring water, which wasn't its natural habitat. Had someone been trying to capture it, causing to escape through various bodies of water all the way here?

Marcato pondered on that train of thought for a while, then shook his head and dipped himself back into the hot spring, happily sighing as he did so. After all, mysteries could wait, but his delayed comfort could not.

* * *

"Ahh, that was a good soak. We should do this again someday!"

Stepping out of the changing room, Hazuki stretched her arms out as she felt the cool air with her warm body. After soaking in the hot springs for a while more, the four girls then washed off the excess hot spring water clinging to their skin in the communal bath.

"Midori agrees! Hey, maybe we should do this again when we get to Subdomi City!" Midori offered, the loose strand of hair above her head wiggling in delight as she nodded at Hazuki's suggestion.

"I'd certainly want to do that, but it'd cost too much for us." Kumiko rebutted. "Even if Asuka didn't help pay for our stay here, this resort costs far less than those in the city proper."

"Speaking of Ms. Tanaka," Reina interjected, her attention regained upon hearing the Elite Four member's name, "why would she set up such a convoluted plan just to meet up with us at this hot spring. If she wanted to avoid being detected, wouldn't there be better methods available to her?"

"Huh, now that you mention it, that seems odd." Kumiko replied. "I know she's a bit eccentric, but staking us out just by renting out all the hot spring resorts in the area seems too excessive even for her. Could there be a secondary purpose to all this?"

"I've considered that she would want to throw our potential pursuers off the scent by setting up so many decoys, so they wouldn't know where she went to." Reina admitted. "But still, doing so seems like a waste of money if she just wanted to meet us in person."

"Maybe there's something else going on that we don't know about?" Kumiko wondered. "A Legendary or Mythical Pokémon on the loose in this area that the League doesn't want anybody knowing about?"

"It'd be hard for them to cover up something like that, since their sheer power causes massive collateral damage on everything nearby." Reina responded. "Though I guess it would be possible if it were one of the weaker Legendaries or Mythicals, maybe with the help of Psychic-type Pokémon if large-scale events happened."

"Well, maybe that's why." Kumiko offered. "Maybe another Elite Four member is also in the area to track down that Legendary or Mythical, and Asuka decided to use this as cover and meet up with us, killing two Pidgey with one stone."

"That seems like the most probable chain of events." Reina concluded. "It would be best not to dwell on it further, especially considering that it involves Ms. Tanaka. What a piece of work."

As Kumiko wondered what Reina meant by that comment, she saw that their Pokémon were already in the foyer waiting for them, with one notable addition. Wondering who the Breloom that joined them belonged to, Kumiko thought that it might have been Asuka's before Hazuki ran up to it and tacked it in a hug.

"Wow, Staccato!" Hazuki exclaimed. "What happened to you in there? Guess those hot springs really did you some good, huh? Look at you now! All big and strong!"

Surprised that Hazuki's Shroomish had somehow evolved while in the hot springs, Kumiko looked around at her own Pokémon to see if there were any changes in her own team members, and was both relieved and disappointed that all of them stayed the same.

Seeing his Trainer, Marcato hopped over and waved his arms at Kumiko, hoping to get her attention. As Kumiko looked over, Marcato tried to explain the events that transpired in the Pokémon-only hot spring, but it seemed like his Trainer didn't get his gist, just laughing at his awkward gestures.

"Oh, Marcato," Kumiko playfully lamented. "What's gotten into you? Did you soak up all the water in the hot spring and become a big, fat, cactus? Are you now a part Water-type now?"

Sighing to himself at how dense his Trainer could be at times, Marcato just hopped over back to where his teammates were, surrounding himself with smarter beings as Kumiko looked on, oblivious to what had gone through Marcato's mind.

Nearby, Reina was also interacting with her team, though she was confused when they seemed to be acting something out that she couldn't comprehend. Apparently, it involved Sparkle shocking everyone and Eurydice using Shadow Ball, but that was all she could understand from their poor acting.

"Our Pokémon seem to be acting strangely," Hazuki noted. "Did all the water vapor get into their brains or something?"

"I have no idea." Reina responded. "Maybe there was a powerful Psychic-type Pokémon nearby causing them to have mass hallucinations? Though that would beg the question of why we weren't affected."

"Midori thinks it's best not to dwell on this." Midori chimed in. "Haven't we all not had dinner yet?"

Patting their stomachs, the four girls soon realized how empty their stomachs were, and quickly rushed to the dining hall with their Pokémon in tow. As Midori liked to say (and whose thoughts were echoed by Hazuki), a good meal could ease their minds and wash away their worries.

* * *

After having a delicious dinner, the quartet stayed up all night chatting to each other, then fell asleep and woke up to a brand new day. Leaving the hot spring resort with full stomachs, they drew closer to the low-lying skyline of Subdomi City, punctuated by the volcano it was built on top of.

"Reina, do you know what type of Pokémon this Gym uses?" Hazuki asked, wanting to know more about their next opponent. "I want to go in prepared so my battle doesn't go down to the wire."

"The Gym in Subdomi City specializes in the Fire-type." Reina promptly answered. "It should be quite straightforward to beat, so many Trainers often come here to start their Gym journey and get a feel of battling in an official match. However, the Gym Leader here is fully aware of this, so she set up a challenge outside her Gym to make sure only those with a will of fire can take her on."

"Doesn't that mean she's an antisocial loner who got bored of constantly beating weak people?" Kumiko pondered. "Should a person like that even be a Gym Leader?"

Even though Kumiko subtly realized that she had spoken her thoughts out loud again, they were instantly drowned out by Hazuki's enthusiasm. "Ooh! A challenge! I wonder what it could be?"

"Apparently, it has something to do with the Gym Leader's personal experiences." Reina explained. "Before she became a Gym Leader, she got thoroughly thrashed by the Champion in an exhibition match, and conceded rather quickly to save face. After being lectured by the Champion, she vowed to push on through any challenge from that point on, no matter how tough it may be."

Hazuki peered over at Reina's phone. "...Wait, aren't you just reading that straight from the League website? Lemme see. So it says here that she wants her challengers to develop the trait of perseverance under pressure, giving them the strength to continue forward. Sounds cool! I wonder what's in store for us?"

"Obviously nothing good." Kumiko commented, not caring at all whether she said that out loud or not. "Like I mentioned, does she want to face people at all with something like that?"

"Kumiko, you really shouldn't judge a book by its cover." Reina chided, a hint of seriousness in her voice. "This is an excellent opportunity to develop our resilience. If the Gym Leader learnt something from the Champion, then we should at least get a glimpse of the lesson she was taught, don't you agree? After all, this is one more step to becoming special."

"Fair enough," came Kumiko's belated reply. "Though I hope it isn't that complicated."

Heading in the direction of the Gym, the quartet noticed the road in front of them getting steeper and the temperature steadily increasing. Feeling the sweat trickle down her back, Kumiko was starting to feel uncomfortable as dampness started to form on her shirt from exhaustion and heat. She was starting to seriously consider taking it off before realizing Reina was with her, and immediately ceased those thoughts.

"We should almost be at where the Gym's preliminary challenge is." Reina stated. "I can't explain why, but I sense that whatever lies ahead of us will certainly be daunting."

Arriving at an arched gate near the volcano's summit, the four girls saw the Gym building built into the volcano behind it. In front of the gate was a lone girl guarding it, with a maroon ribbon knotted in a tiny bow tied around her hair and a perpetual frown on her face

"Welcome. Are you here to take on the Gym?" the gatekeeper asked in a cranky voice, slightly irritating Kumiko.

"Yes, we are." Reina answered. "I'm aware that there's a challenge we need to undertake before we can enter. Can you tell us more about what we need to face?"

"Well lookie here," the gatekeeper grumbled. "Somebody's done their research before coming. I don't see that very often around these parts. Seems like they finally managed to send someone more alert than a Slowpoke to take on the Gyms."

The gatekeeper gestured over to where the gate was. "Your challenge is to walk barefoot across 4 meters of 538°C coals (or 12 feet and 1000°F if you're Unovan) all the way to the Gym's entrance without the assistance of your Pokémon. Only then will you have the right to challenge the Gym."

"W-walking on coals?!" Hazuki was shocked. While she expected the challenge to be related to fire in some way, never in three thousand years had she guessed that it would be this dangerous.

"Don't worry," the gatekeeper informed them. "There's a trick to it. You see that pool of water beside the gate? Before you start your walk, soak your feet in the cold water. When you actually walk over the coals, the water evaporates and forms a layer of protective gas over your feet so you don't get burnt, but you've got to be quick or else it'll disappear."

"Moving quickly?! Midori's not good at that!" Midori exclaimed. "Hazuki-chan, we need to train ourselves so we can avoid getting burnt! Midori's body has a weak composition, so Midori can't tolerate pain well!"

"What? Wait! I can do this! Let me go!" Hazuki cried out as she was dragged down by Midori back the way they came up, clearly displeased with how her best friend was trying to rope her into speed training, something she was already good at.

"Oh well. Just as I thought today was going to be a busy day." the gatekeeper lamented. "So are you two going to wuss out as well? Saves me a lot of time that way."

"No, we're not." Reina declared, walking over to the pool before taking off her shoes and dipping her bare feet into the ice-cold water, prompting Kumiko to do the same. "There's only one way out of a challenge like this: forward."

"I like your attitude." the gatekeeper smirked. "Kind of reminds me of Ms. Gym Leader when I first met her, though I hope that your Bite hits as hard as your bark."

Steadying herself, Reina took a deep breath before stepping out of the pool, her feet drenching wet. Without hesitating for a second, she nimbly pranced across the hot coals while making sure she didn't land on a single spot for more than a brief moment, gracefully dancing on the smoldering stones like a ballerina.

By a stroke of misfortune, Reina stepped on a particular section for a bit too long halfway to the Gym's entrance, and flinched before letting out an ear-splitting scream. Thinking that she had been severely burned by the coals, the gatekeeper immediately sent out her Braixen. "Use Psychic to rescue the challenger!"

Levitating Reina back to the starting point, the gatekeeper's Braixen lowered her safely down to the ground as she rushed over with a bucket of cold water scooped from the pool. However, upon inspecting Reina's feet, the gatekeeper frowned. "Haah? There's not even a first-degree burn or a bruise on your feet. What was that scream for?"

"Well… looks like I'm not as resistant to Fire as I expected." Reina admitted. "Guess that's what happens when you've spent too much time with Ice-type Pokémon. I'll try again after a bit of rest, if that's OK with you."

"Fine." the gatekeeper sighed. "Challengers can try as many times as they want, provided they don't get any serious injuries." She turned to look at Kumiko. "How about you? Prepared to go through after what happened to your friend?"

Kumiko kind of regretted not telling Reina beforehand, but she actually had above-average tolerance to heat. Once, she managed to carry a piping-hot pot of curry at a school camp by herself, though she still had to wash her hands afterwards to cool down. While the coals were far hotter than a pot carrying freshly-cooked food, Kumiko had enough confidence in her resistance to make it across 4 meters without burning herself.

"Yes. Like my friend said, I have to persist if I want to be special, and this is just one more obstacle I need to overcome on the way there." Kumiko answered, though the gatekeeper didn't seem as pleased as she did with Reina previously.

"Hmph. Ladies and gentlemen, looks like we've got another talker here." the gatekeeper sarcastically announced. "Anyone taking bets on whether she's gonna make it through? Anyone?"

Disregarding the gatekeeper's barbing, Kumiko mentally prepared herself before taking the first step on the coals, testing their temperature in an instant before continuing on with her second quick step. While she didn't move as fast as Reina did, her slight heat resistance meant that she could use more time to affirm her footing and make it across more carefully.

Methodically maneuvering, Kumiko subconsciously locked herself into a cycle of putting her foot down, making sure she could balance herself, putting her other foot down in front of her, and immediately lifting the first foot after her second foot was stabilized, minimizing the time she spent on the coals. Before she knew it, she was already on the other side, the Gym building directly in front of her.

"Well done! Looks like you're made of tougher stuff than your friend over there." the gatekeeper admitted. "Though judging by her low tolerance to heat, I'm starting to think that she can't make it here on her own…"

That last poke set off a chain reaction of thoughts in Kumiko's mind. Reina prided herself on being strong-willed and independent, always conquering each challenge in front of her with unbroken determination. To be stopped here just because of a physical limitation she had no control over was most likely a devastating blow to her psyche.

Sure, she could build up her tolerance to heat over time, but Kumiko suspected that Reina wouldn't accept a setback like that. That would take too much time, time that she could have used to become even more special in other things such as Pokémon training and battling.

Unsure of what to do, Kumiko didn't move until she heard the faint sound of dripping water emanated from her feet. Looking down, she saw that her soles were still wet, which gave her one of the riskiest ideas she ever had.

"I'll carry Reina across, even if it means that I have to walk across the coals once more and start all over again." Kumiko declared. "She promised me that we'd be together no matter what happens, and I'm not even thinking about dropping my end of the bargain, even through the fire and flames. Is that allowed?"

"Hmmm… nobody's done that before, but it isn't explicitly banned by the rules." the gatekeeper mused. "I'll let you do it just this once, but whether or not you manage to cross over on the next try, it's going to be disallowed after that. Fair?"

"Fair." Psyching herself up again, Kumiko used her hands to slather her feet with some of the excess water clinging on to her legs before walking back to the starting point. While her body had already adapted to the routine clockwork of firewalking, Kumiko found it more unbearable compared to the first time, as there was less water on her feet and it wasn't cold enough to evaporate slower.

By the time she got back, Kumiko could start to feel the tingling sensation of pain on her soles, and immediately went over to the pool of cold water to soak her feet, quickly dispersing all the heat concentrated there.

Once she felt she could make the journey again, Kumiko stepped out of the pool and gestured for Reina to come to her side. Stretching her arms out and bending down to pick Reina up, Kumiko's special one obliged and rested herself comfortably, knowing that she was in the best care she could possibly imagine.

With a bit of heaving, Kumiko managed to lift herself up along with Reina, silently noting that she was lighter than expected, despite her petite frame already lowering Kumiko's expectations by a sizable amount. Clearly, Reina was either in top shape or she had been eating less than she needed.

Putting her first foot on the coals, Kumiko could feel the heat getting to her, but vowed to continue pressing on as Reina clung to her for dear life, briskly skipping from one spot to the next and always mentally checking she wasn't standing in one area for too long.

Despite nearly losing her balance several times due to Reina's added weight shifting her center of gravity, Kumiko managed to catch herself, trying her best to advance no matter how much it pained her to do so.

As Reina had her arms wrapped around Kumiko, she could feel a special sort of warmth emanating from her desired, different from the harsh heat of the coals or the tepid temperature surrounding them. Unlike those unsatisfactory feelings, Kumiko's body gave her a sense of reassurance; even if she couldn't do it herself, her special one would help pick up the slack together.

Nearing the goal she had rejected the first time around, Kumiko saw Reina looking at her expectantly, as if waiting for an explanation of why she was going a fair distance out of the way for her. Though Kumiko wanted to continue staring into those deep purple eyes for the rest of eternity, she still needed to push forward if Reina wanted to achieve her goals.

Still moving her legs with unerring precision, Kumiko suddenly felt the ground below her go from piping-hot to lukewarm. Looking down, she realized that they had finally reached the other side. Letting Reina alight from her arms, Kumiko turned to look at her, but their moment was interrupted by the gatekeeper.

"Congratulations. I almost thought that you'd trip and fall on the way." the gatekeeper reluctantly praised as her Braixen levitated their shoes across to them, as well as two buckets of water from the pool to soak their feet in. "Now, where did I put my markers? Looks like I need to close that loophole after all."

As the gatekeeper rummaged around the gate she was overseeing, Reina had the first word. "Wow… I'd never thought that you would carry me like that."

"Yeah, and I hope it won't be the last time either." Kumiko thought to herself, causing a blush to appear on Reina's face, though Kumiko didn't realize what she had just announced out loud.

"Excuse my face. It must be because you were so hot." Reina replied without paying attention to her words, causing Kumiko to turn a similar shade of red. Was Reina…

"Let's not waste any more time here." Reina seemed to have mentally repressed her previous sentence already, wanting to finally fight the Gym Leader with her own power after relying on Kumiko for the challenge beforehand. "Before we enter the Gym, I suggest we cool our feet with the water provided. What do you say about getting wet together?"

Reina still didn't understand how or why Kumiko's face could get even more red than she already was.


	26. Chapter 26: Vesuvius

Cooling their feet and slipping them back into their shoes, Kumiko and Reina were now facing the fourth Gym they were about to challenge, after walking (or being carried in Reina's case) across four meters of flaming-hot coals.

"Are you ready, Kumiko?" Reina asked, worried her special one would need to rest after walking three times through the coals because of her. If Kumiko couldn't battle in top form, then what was the point of her risking everything to overcome the challenge she just overcame.

"Yeah, I'm alright." Kumiko answered, sensing the uneasiness in Reina's voice. Though walking across coals was a brand-new experience for her, she felt strangely at ease when doing it, to the point where she just thought of it was another type of walking during her third trip across. "Let's go in, shall we?"

Pushing open the doors, the first thing Kumiko saw were columns of lava pouring down the walls and spilling into a moat that encircled the battlefield, naturally lighting up the indoors arena. Initially wondering why she wasn't feeling any heat from the lava, Kumiko then realized the walls and floor were covered by sheets of thick glass that shielded them from the heat and prevent anyone from accidentally falling in.

"Welcome. I see that you two have made it past the challenge I set." a voice rang out from the other side of the Gym. "Miru told me about how you pulled off the bridal carry. She's the person who was supervising everything at the gate. That's the first time I've seen something like that ever since I started issuing this challenge."

Looking across the battlefield, Kumiko saw a young woman greet them while clasping a French horn to her body with her arm. "Since you two walked through the coals, I take it that you both are here to battle me. How many Badges do you already have?"

"We both have three, but I'll be going first." Reina answered, presenting her badge case with her spoils of victory lodged inside. "This is the first time I've actually experienced an external challenge prior to facing a Gym Leader, even though I've heard of it being done in other regions."

"It really depends on whether what the Gym Leader wants a challenger to learn can be imprinted through battle alone." the Gym Leader informed her. "As Fire is more of a brute-force type, I felt that learning resilience couldn't be achieved through my battling style, so I applied for a permit to issue a pre-battle challenge."

Putting down her French horn, the Gym Leader grabbed three Pokéballs from a terminal installed onto a wall, then situated herself on her side of the battlefield. "Before we start, my name's Juri. I hope that you remember it as the name of the person who will push you to your absolute limit, forcing you to persist through the overwhelming force of a volcano. Without further ado, fight hard and fight on! Torkoal"

As Kumiko observed the Gym Leader send out her first Pokémon, she saw Reina briefly consider her options before throwing out a Pokéball, revealing Demi as her choice against the Coal Pokémon.

"Battle begin!" the referee at the sidelines announced.

While both sides were considering what to do in this matchup, Kumiko realized that Reina was at a massive disadvantage going into this battle. Since two of her Pokémon were Ice-types, this was going to be a massive uphill battle for Reina no matter what she did, though Kumiko suspected she already had a counter planned beforehand.

Above the battlefield, a radiant orb akin to the sun appeared, but was quickly quashed by a hailstorm suddenly forming indoors. Wondering what happened without both Trainers even saying a word, Kumiko came to the conclusion that both Demi and the Gym Leader's Torkoal had weather-setting Abilities, but Demi's activated later.

"Your Pokémon's ability won't change a single thing!" the Gym Leader exclaimed, replying to a comment Reina did not make. "Torkoal, use Eruption!"

The red parts on Torkoal's shell glowed brightly for a moment before it crouched down on its front legs and blasted out a single plume of lava directly at Demi. Without flinching, Reina put her trumpet to her lips and played a short section from what Kumiko recognized as Let it Go.

Before the lava could reach Demi, multicolored lights shone around her like a veil of auroras and blocked most of the attack, though she was still gravely wounded by the devastating super-effective move. Reina then played Saturn from The Planets followed by a slow version of Handel's Water Music, prompting Demi to burrow underground.

"You thought you could beat me with a simple Dig?" the Gym Leader questioned. "I've seen that many times before. Torkoal, Heat Wave!"

Pounding its feet on the ground, the Gym Leader's Pokémon sent a burst of heat rippling through the floor, causing cracks and fractures to appear all over it. Worrying about what was going to happen to Demi, Kumiko saw that her worst fears had been alleviated when Demi appeared back from the hole she had dug.

Reina then played Ave Maria on her trumpet, but nothing seemed to happen from Kumiko's point of view, making her wonder just what sort of move Reina had commanded Demi to use.

Though there was an uneasy tension in the air about what the challenger had done, the Gym Leader knew that any sort of resistance was futile at this point, especially when an Ice-type had been pitted against a Fire-type. "Torkoal, use Eruption again!"

The Gym Leader's Pokémon steadied itself again in preparation of using its most powerful move, but before it could make the decisive blow, Kumiko heard a bubbling sound beneath the ground as a gigantic spout of water blasted Torkoal up into the air, knocking it off balance.

"Wha- how?" The Gym Leader seemed incredulous at the move Reina pulled off. "The only Water-type move an Alolan Vulpix can learn is Aqua Tail! Where did you get all that water from?"

"That's simple." Reina cooly responded. "I just commanded my Pokémon to use Freeze-Dry underground, knowing you would use a Fire-type move in some way to smoke her out. That melted all the ice I was storing there into water, which she then used Extrasensory to control. Demi, Dig again!"

Before the Gym Leader's Torkoal landed back on the ground, Demi had already leapt back into the hole she had previously dug, tunneling under the ground and reemerging below where Torkoal was plummeting towards, striking it midair with all the dirt from her jaunt underground.

That impact sent Torkoal flying in the air once more, causing it to land on the ground shell-first with a deafening crash. When the dust had settled, it was apparent that Torkoal was in no shape to battle again.

"Torkoal is unable to battle." the referee announced.

Recalling her fainted Torkoal, the Gym Leader sent out her next Pokémon with no hesitation. "Carkol, ride towards the fight!"

Seeing the Gym Leader's choice this time, Reina recalled Demi. Though she knew that Demi could eke out a win through repeated uses of Dig, this potential strategy all depended on her being able to move first, which she wasn't able to do in this state.

Considering which of her other two Pokémon was the best choice in the scenario, Reina racked through all her possible options before making her decision. Grasping a Pokéball in her hand, she threw it out. "Eurydice, follow my lead!"

Once Eurydice had been settled on the field, the Gym Leader made the first move. "Carkol, Flame Charge!"

Kumiko heard a sound akin to an engine revving up before Carkol charged towards Eurydice at breakneck speed, its entire body engulfed in burning flames fueled by the coal it carried on its back.

Seeing that this was a straightforward attack (in more ways than one), Reina also made a straightforward decision, not needing her trumpet to give orders. "Use Teleport!"

Eurydice quickly warped out of the way before Carkol's attack could impact her, dodging it with no problem. However, when Carkol had comprehended what just happened, it changed direction by tilting its body and balancing on its two left wheel legs, beginning to charge towards Eurydice once again.

Realizing that continuously Teleporting was not an option in this battle, Reina decided to shift tactics and played Ave Maria on her trumpet. Using Psychic, Eurydice managed to telekinetically stop Carkol in its tracks.

Now that her opponent's Pokémon was rendered immobile, Reina was about to give Eurydice the order to throw Carkol around the battlefield when the revving sound Carkol was making grew louder. Noticing that its wheels were now spinning faster, Reina saw that it was starting to make some headway against Eurydice's Psychic block.

"Crescendo!" Reina called out, prompting Eurydice to strengthen her move. Though this proved to be an effective counter for a short while, the speed boost that Carkol was gaining from Flame Charge slowly but surely negated Eurydice's psychic strength.

Eventually, Eurydice was unable to maintain her Psychic anymore, and barely had enough strength to instinctively Teleport away before Carkol charged at full speed towards her. While she was recovering, she was forced on the defensive yet again when Carkol had already changed direction.

The mistake Reina made of letting Carkol continuously boost its speed when it was restrained with Psychic had finally bit back at her, with Eurydice having no time to rest as she constantly avoided Carkol's numerous blitzes.

Seeing Eurydice slowing being worn out by repeatedly using Teleport, it was obvious to Reina that she needed a way to negate Carkol's speed if Eurydice was to fight on equal footing with it. Scanning the battlefield for ideas, Reina saw the hole that Demi had left behind during the previous battle and had a brainwave. "Teleport into that hole!"

After Eurydice disappeared into the ground, the Gym Leader's Carkol slowed itself down to enter the hold that Demi dug, though it still kept its Flame Charge active as it raced towards its target.

"Now, Teleport out again." Reina knew that even if Eurydice couldn't hear her that well underground, she could still sense her Trainer's intentions via telepathy. Seeing her opponent's Pokémon warp back out again, the Gym Leader was about to tell her Carkol to stop before it entered the ground, but it was already too late.

Kumiko heard a deafening crash as the Gym Leader's Carkol impacted the end of the tunnel face-first. Noticing that some damage had been dealt to Carkol from the recoil of its collision, Reina decided to take advantage of her gambit's successful outcome and deal the finishing blow.

"Psychic Earthquake!" she commanded, prompting Eurydice's eyes to flash blue before the ground beneath them rumbled. Fractures began to appear around the hole Demi dug before spreading outwards, culminating in the hole and the tunnel it connected to collapsing under its own weight.

After confirming that there were no signs of resistance from her opponent, Eurydice used Psychic once again to levitate Carkol out of where it had been buried in the ground, the broken-up floor allowing her to do so with ease.

"Carkol is unable to battle." the referee announced.

The Gym Leader recalled her fainted Pokémon, then sent out her last remaining team member. "Ninetales, carry on!"

With the Fox Pokémon landing gracefully on the ground, the orb of sunlight that Kumiko previously saw appeared once again, most likely triggered by Ninetales' Ability. Seeing that the conditions of battle had shifted towards her opponent's side, Reina decided to turn the tide back in her favour. "Good job, Eurydice. Return!"

As Eurydice disappeared from the battlefield, Kumiko saw Reina grab the one remaining Pokéball that she hadn't touched all battle and throw it out. "Idina, rise like the break of dawn!"

Taking one look at Reina's choice of Pokémon, the Gym Leader couldn't help but laugh at the bizarre decision she just made. "Recalling your Kirlia and sending out an Ice-type Pokémon? Are you crazy?"

"Perhaps," Reina coolly answered with a smirk. "But I'm the right sort of crazy." With that last comment, she played the happy little jingle of Let it Snow on her trumpet, leaving the Gym Leader dumbfounded.

The miniature sun hovering over the battlefield was quickly vanquished by a hailstorm appearing out of nowhere. In the brief moment of confusion that ensued, Idina made herself vanish amidst the descending spheres of ice, blending in amongst the storm.

"Stealth can't stop us!" the Gym Leader proclaimed. "Ninetales, Inferno!"

Ninetales let out a guttural growl before releasing a pulse of searing flame from its body that ravaged across the battlefield, narrowly stopping short of where the people present were standing. The hail that had impacted the wall of fire instantly boiled, not even having a chance to melt into water first.

After that devastating attack, Reina seemed unimpressed. "Well, that _looked_ impressive, but the fact remains that Inferno only has a 50% chance of hitting an opponent, which means that you completely missed the mark. Idina, Thunder Wave!"

Appearing from amidst the hail like the Ghost-type she was, Idina formed a band of electricity between her hands before blasting it out towards Ninetales, causing it to writhe for a moment before its body continually twitched, unable to move the way it wanted to.

"Being paralyzed? It takes more than that to take us down!" the Gym Leader exclaimed. "Overheat!"

A wave of heat surged out from Ninetales and immediately made itself visible, searing the air all around it and tainting it red. As the effects of the attack started to reach Idina, Reina knew that she needed to use her trump card now or suffer a crushing defeat.

Slipping the Icium Z she had into her Z-Power Ring, Reina let her instincts take over as she felt her body moving on its own before thrusting her hands out towards Idina. Filled with the energy from the bonds she shared with her Trainer, Idina glowed orange before rising up on a pillar of ice and fired a massive beam of frigid energy beneath Ninetales.

Normally, massive spikes of ice were meant to form from where the beam had impacted, but the sheer intensity of Ninetales' Overheat had prevented them from growing larger than ice cubes before melting.

Both Idina and Reina felt their strength sap from trying to continuously generate more ice as a counter to Ninetales' attack, but their efforts were not in vain when Idina finally managed to overpower Ninetales for a split second, rapidly creating several ice spikes before letting them explode spontaneously, managing to do some damage before Reina felt her knees grow weak.

"Hah! That didn't hurt us at all!" the Gym Leader jested. "Know your type matchups, kid!"

"Not quite." Reina responded, putting her trumpet to her lips. Despite being almost driven to exhaustion from overexerting herself while performing a Z-Move, the strong muscles that she built up playing the trumpet still managed to move themselves as she played Handel's Water Music at its normal speed.

Idina formed a sphere of water between her hands before blasting it out in a pulse,. Reina then played Ave Maria on her trumpet, and Idina's eyes glowed blue as she took control of the water she just blasted, coursing it through the ground while amalgamating the melted ice from her Z-Move into it.

When Idina's Water Pulse resurfaced again, it was now three times as large compared to when she first fired it out. Quickly taking note of how her challenger had managed to magnify the effectiveness of a super-effective move, the Gym Leader decided to solve this problem the way she normally did: though overwhelming force. "Ninetales, Fire Blast!"

The Fox Pokémon opened its mouth and prepared to fire out another one of its high-powered attacks, but its paralysis kicked in at the last moment, causing only a small ember to fire out of its mouth towards Idina's gigantic Water Pulse, immediately extinguishing itself.

As the Gym Leader stood in disbelief, Reina nodded at Idina, and she thrust the Psychic-controlled Water Pulse at Ninetales, completely drenching if not fully submerging it in water. Once most of the water had seeped back into the ground's crevices, Ninetales had already fainted from the enhanced super-effective move.

"Ninetales is unable to battle." the referee announced. "The challenger emerges victorious!"

After the Gym Leader recalled her Ninetales, Reina did the same with Idina and walked over to where the Gym Leader was standing. A while passed where Kumiko presumed the Gym Leader gave Reina her badge and offered some choice words, and Reina sooned returned to Kumiko's side.

"Your friend over there really proved herself by using tricks to counter my sheer power." the Gym Leader called out to Kumiko as she healed her Pokémon. "I wonder how you'll face me now?"

Kumiko stepped up to the challenger's side of the battlefield and considered her options. While Sparkle and Orpheus would fair evenly against the Gym Leader's Pokémon, she was worried that Marcato's typing would put him at a disadvantage here. However, Reina's battles just now proved that with a little creativity and ingenuity, type matchups could be easily negated.

Settling on who she was going to send out first, she threw out the Pokéball she had wrapped her hand around. "Orpheus, play on!"

"Another Kirlia, eh?" the Gym Leader noticed. "Then let's see how you'll fare against the same Pokémon! Carkol, run back!"

Once both Pokémon were settled on the battlefield, the referee raised her arms again. "Battle begin!"

"Carkol, Flame Charge!" the Gym Leader commanded, prompting her Pokémon to engulf itself in flames before rushing towards Orpheus. While the Gym Leader hadn't changed her strategy at all between battles, Kumiko knew that Orpheus couldn't rely on using Psychic to manipulate the battlefield just like Eurydice, so she needed a way to win this matchup.

Thinking back to what Reina did in her battle, Kumiko realized that she could use absolutely nothing that Reina had, considering that their Pokémon had completely different specialties. However, she remembered that Orpheus had a special move that could completely stop Carkol in its tracks. "Use Sing!"

Unable to change directions easily, the Gym Leader's Carkol was heading directly into the path of Orpheus' move, and quickly fell asleep just before its attack had connected. As Carkol closed its eyes in slumber, the flames that surrounded its body quickly went out, leaving it a defenseless target.

"Now, Thunder Punch!" Kumiko ordered. As Orpheus rushed towards his opponent, the Gym Leader realized that there was nothing she could do at this moment, so she opted to wait instead.

As Orpheus landed a flurry of punches charged with crackling lightning, Carkol's eyes suddenly snapped open as he pulled back from his last punch. Seeing that her opponent's Pokémon was now very close to her Carkol, the Gym Leader knew that any attack at this range could not be avoided. "Flame Charge again!"

Before Kumiko could give any further instructions to Orpheus, the Gym Leader's Carkol wreathed itself in fire and rammed straight into Orpheus, blitzing around the Gym and trapping him in a fiery hell that he could not escape from. While Kumiko frantically wondered about what to do, she then saw something interesting.

It seemed that the coals on Carkol's back were the fuel for its attacks, as they glowed red-hot when it unleashed its Flame Charge, while remaining inert when it was asleep. If Kumiko could think of a way for Orpheus to disable that fuel source, then she could stop her opponent's relentless attack.

Thinking of a way to use her surroundings and the moves Orpheus knew, Kumiko suddenly thought back to how Reina managed to create Water with Ice-type Pokémon during her battles. "Orpheus, use Ice Punch on the mound of coal on Carkol's back!"

Regaining enough awareness to realize where he was, Orpheus managed to manifest an Ice Punch, though it was taking more effort than usual due to the heat from Carkol's Flame Charge melting the ice he just generated. Slamming it into Carkol, Orpheus didn't really sense any change until he felt his opponent slowing down.

Now that Kumiko's ad-hoc plan was somehow working, Orpheus continued executing it, continually slamming Ice Punches onto Carkol's back and letting the resulting water cool the coals off.

Gradually, Carkol began to decelerate, and its leg wheels began to grind to a halt as the Flame Charge was extinguished. As it began to generate the heat necessary to evaporate the water on its coals, Kumiko had other plans.

"Thunder Punch again!" she commanded. Aiming towards the coals, Orpheus let his punch infused with electricity course through the water covering the coals, causing the attack to be more effective than normal on Carkol.

After Carkol collapsed from all the damage it sustained during battle, the referee made her judgement. "Carkol is unable to battle."

The Gym Leader recalled her Pokémon, prompting Kumiko to do the same with Orpheus as well, wanting to save his strength if anything went wrong later on. Immediately, the Gym Leader sent out her next Pokémon. "Ninetales, break the curse's seal!"

As soon as the Gym Leader's Ninetales jumped out of its Pokéball, the orb of sunlight created by its Ability had reappeared again. Kumiko briefly considered who to send out before realizing that she needed overwhelming strength to counter Ninetales' high-power moves, and made her choice. "Sparkle, go with the thrill!"

Right after Sparkle's feet touched the floor, the Gym Leader began her assault. "Ninetales, Fire Blast!"

Despite the incoming attack's sheer power, Kumiko noticed that during its slow charging time, Ninetales was unable to move or change the direction it was facing, making the attack easy to avoid. "Sparkle, dodge!"

Before Ninetales could even launch out the Fire Blast, Sparkle had already moved out of its range, allowing Kumiko an opportunity to attack without fear of retribution. "Use Thunderbolt!"

What wool remained on Sparkle got charged up with electricity before she fired out an arc of lightning that curved its way towards the Gym Leader's Ninetales, who couldn't avoid the attack in time due to spending its energy preparing to use Fire Blast.

Nearly collapsing from Sparkle's initial attack, Ninetales managed to stabilize itself at the last moment with its nine tails, preventing titself from falling down all the way. Disappointed in herself but impressed that the challenger had figured out a workaround that quickly, the Gym Leader decided to use a sure-fire attack the next time around. "Ninetales, Overheat!"

The searing heat wave emerged from Ninetales body again, and its destructive power swept across the battlefield as it headed towards Sparkle. heating up the air in its path. Kumiko knew that Sparkle couldn't survive such a move if she took it head-on, and there was nowhere to dodge.

Caught between a Solrock and a hard place, Kumiko remembered that one of the Z-Crystals she had previously obtained was an Electricum Z. Seeing no other option available to her, she took the yellow crystal out of her bag and slipped it into her Z-Power Ring, letting her instincts guide her actions.

Feeling herself being pulled along for the ride by some mysterious force, Kumiko performed a series of whole-body gestures before thrusting her arms out towards Sparkle. Now surrounded with an orange aura, Sparkle charged up a massive ball of electricity on her tail before firing out, the resulting bolt of lightning coursing towards the Gym Leader's Ninetales.

"That won't stop us that easily!" the Gym Leader remarked. "Ninetales, use Fire Blast again!"

After the Overheat dissipated from the Z-Move bursting through it, Ninetales readied another Fire Blast before firing it out, meeting Sparkle's ultimate attack in a direct collision. Though the Z-Move that Sparkle just let out was extremely powerful, Ninetales' Fire Blast was able to match its strength blow-for-blow, fire and electricity clashing in midair as they battled it out.

For a moment, it seemed that the Gym Leader's Ninetales had the upper hand, its Fire Blast managing to gain some ground. However, upon facing the possibility that she could lose even with such a powerful move by her side, Kumiko thrust out her arms even further, hoping that it could help her in some way.

Being moves that resonated with a Trainer, Kumiko's wish came true in the form of Sparkle's Z-Move managing to break through Ninetales' Fire Blast, splitting it into five harmless fire trails as it surged towards the Fox Pokémon. Upon impact, a beam of lightning shot upwards as Ninetales' body was caught in a sea of electricity, completely incapacitated by paralysis.

Exhausted by the extra effort she had put in, Kumiko fell to the ground, but managed to catch herself in time. The same could not be said of her opponent's Ninetales, who had been completely worn out.

"Ninetales is unable to battle." the referee announced.

Recalling her fainted Pokémon, the Gym Leader was delighted. "Excellent! That was the display of sheer power I was hoping to see. I wonder if you'll manage to pull off something like that again! Torkoal, it's the dawn of a red day!"

Seeing the Gym Leader send out her final Pokémon, Kumiko decided she wanted all of her team to get at least a glimpse of this battle. Recalling Sparkle, Kumiko grasped her starter's Pokéball before throwing it out. "Marcato, let's hit this hard!"

Before Marcato landed on the ground, Kumiko noticed that the sphere of sunlight that had been summoned from Ninetales' ability not only remained on the battlefield, but had got stronger, most likely boosted by Torkoal's identical Ability.

As soon as the Gym Leader confirmed that Marcato was ready to battle, she then let out a laugh. "Using a Grass-type Pokémon in a Fire-type Gym? Guess you really are cut off from the same cloth as your friend! Torkoal, Eruption!"

Kumiko realized what a terrible mistake she made as the Gym Leader's Pokémon charged up its most powerful move and fired it out straight at Marcato. At this point, Kumiko rationed that it would be useless to tell him to dodge, seeing the speed the attack was travelling at.

The spot where Eruption hit sent a massive column of smoke and dust rising up into the air, impeding vision in and around the battlefield. Once the debris had been cleared, Kumiko looked around the area of impact for Marcato's charred body, only to be unable to locate him.

Mortified at the prospect that the Gym Leader's Torkoal had somehow vaporized Marcato, Kumiko was about to cry out in despair when she saw a green object moving in the corner of her eye. Looking over, she saw Marcato waving at her, none the worse from wear.

"Marcato…" Kumiko was shocked. "But how?"

"Don't tell me…" the Gym Leader gnashed her teeth. "Your Maractus has the Ability Chlorophyll? That must've been how it was able to dodge an Eruption! I should have taken that speed boost into account!"

"_Oh… no wonder._" Kumiko thought to herself. From what she had learnt at school, chlorophyll was the chemical that plants and Grass-type Pokémon used to convert sunlight into energy, giving them a green color.

It seemed that Marcato's Chlorophyll also gave him something else as well.

"But that doesn't matter!" the Gym Leader proclaimed. "Our sheer power will triumph over your speed! Torkoal, Heat Wave!"

As heat began to emanate from Torkoal's body and diffuse itself around the arena, Kumiko knew that with this newfound power, Marcato was not only able to avoid the attack, but strike back with enhanced force.

"Jump upwards!" Kumiko commanded, and Marcato did so just before the wave reached where he was standing, springing up in a seemingly impossible burst of speed and almost reaching the Gym's ceiling before coming back down again.

"Now, Wood Hammer!" Before either the Gym Leader or her Torkoal could react, Marcato did a somersault in midair as his right arm glowed green and grew in size, slamming into Torkoal with such speed that to anyone watching, it was little more than a gigantic emerald blur.

Once the dust cleared, Torkoal was still standing, likely due to a Grass-type move not being as effective on it, but there was clearly still some damage done. The Gym Leader was amazed. "I'm amazed at that display, but I'm not going to give you another chance to show it! Lava Plume!"

Steadying itself, the openings on Torkoal's shell glowed bright red before it lowered its head and shot out a blast of hot lava at Marcato, who nonchalantly dodged it with a tilt of his head, letting it impact the wall behind him.

"Mega Drain!" Kumiko called out, and Marcato formed a mass of tendrils over his right arm before lashing them out at Torkoal. For some reason, whether it was the harsh sunlight giving Marcato more energy or the results of his training, the tendrils that appeared this time were thicker and more voluminous than usual.

"No way…" the Gym Leader commented as her Torkoal was ensnared. "Learning a new move in the middle of battle? What is this, an anime?"

Kumiko didn't answer that question, since she was also shocked by this turn of events as well. If this was really a brand-new move, then it surely must have been Giga Drain, the most powerful variant of absorbing moves a Marcatus could learn.

Once the Gym Leader's Torkoal had been freed from Marcato's grasp, it immediately fired out another Lava Plume upon its Trainer's orders, blasting out a shot towards Marcato, who dodged it again.

"Use Giga Drain!" Kumiko commanded, and Marcato used his newly-learned move once again on Torkoal, the enlarged tendrils shooting out of his arm so quickly they almost seemed like beams of light. However, the Gym Leader already had a counter in mind after seeing the same move used twice in a row.

"Heat Wave, fermata!" the Gym Leader called out. Torkoal's shell openings glowed red again, but it didn't seem to unleash any sort of attack. As time passed, the tendrils sapping its strength faded away from the heat and Torkoal broke free, ready to attack again.

"Lava Plume!" As Marcato dodged another attack effortlessly again, Kumiko realized she needed a new strategy to attack Torkoal. Using Giga Drain was out of the question, and Wood Hammer would hurt Marcato just as much as his opponent.

Recalling what moves Marcato knew, Kumiko settled on the one she felt would have the least adverse effects on Marcato if something went wrong. "Pin Missile!"

From the spikes on both of his arms, Marcato launched out multiple light-green rockets at his opponent. Due to how his speed had been increased, he fired off his attacks with such frequency to the point where it seemed like the Gym Leader's Torkoal was being hit by a wall of non-stop air blasts all at once. Unable to keep up, Torkoal was sent flying backwards and crashed into the ground.

"Torkoal is unable to battle." the referee announced while checking to see whether she was right. "The challenger emerges victorious!"

Kumiko stepped up to receive her badge after the Gym Leader recalled her Pokémon, but the Gym Leader spoke first. "That was an amazing display of sheer power you pulled off there, which makes you worthy of the Lydian Badge. Congratulations, young challenger, and don't forget what you felt against a wall of unstoppable power in your future battles."

Putting the Gym Badge away, Kumiko was then asked something by the Gym Leader. "Speaking of future battles, where are you and your friend headed next for your Gym challenge? You've got three options from here at Subdomi City: walk to Edian City or Minant City, or take the high-speed train all the way to Eigve City."

Though Kumiko wanted to dodge this question, she had no choice but to answer it honestly. "We're thinking of going clockwise around the region, so Minant City."

"Minant City, huh…" the Gym Leader pondered, then looked at Kumiko again. "Don't tell me, you're the-"

"Uh, you don't have to tell me! Thanks for the battle and see you!" Kumiko spouted in a hurry before abruptly dragging Reina down a passageway marked 'Challenger's Exit'.

"Huh, that's weird." the Gym Leader noted. "What's wrong about stating the obvious?"

* * *

After emerging out of the other side of the passageway, which was in the local Pokémon Center, Kumiko and Reina discovered that it was now getting late. Due to inadvertently skipping lunch for their Gym battles, they opted to eat a large dinner at the Center before going to bed, tired from the day's events.

The next day, Kumiko and Reina ate an equally large breakfast before heading out on their detour. Rather than going in the direction of Minant City as she had previously told the Gym Leader or back to Edian City, Kumiko and Reina were headed towards the path that fate had somehow set them on.

They were finally going to meet HTT in person at Ongaku Stadium.

* * *

"Wow, I can't believe that this is the Ledger Line!" Kumiko looked around, in awe of the towering skyscrapers flanking both sides of the massive pedestrian street she and Reina were walking on.

"That's Octiva's largest city, business district, and shopping area for you." Reina remarked. "Don't worry, we're going to make it in time for the concert. It doesn't start for another few hours, so we can enjoy the sights while we're passing through. Speaking of which, we're about to go through the Usagiyama section, a traditional Japanese-style shopping street."

Walking into Usagiyama, Kumiko could smell the familiar flavour of mochi tickle her nose before she felt another person bump into her, though she didn't fall to the ground.

"S- Sorry!" the newcomer apologized, picking herself up. Kumiko looked at her and saw that the young woman standing in front of her had a shorter stature and black hair tied into two short twintails held together by ornaments that looked like mochi despite being a little older. "I'm really in a pickle right now!"

Though she was wearing a white hoodie with a blue stripe across the chest, comfy looking jeans, and aquamarine flats, what made her stand out was the morbidly obese Sirfetch'd that had just fluttered its way back up onto her head.

Staring at the supremely deformed Sirfetch'd, Kumiko and Reina's weirdness session was interrupted by the young woman speaking again. "I'm sorry if this inconveniences you, but I really need some extra hands to help me right now! It's really urgent!"

"Calm down. We've still got a lot of time, so we can help you." Reina offered, noting that the young woman seemed more like a kid. "But you haven't told us your name yet."

"Oh yeah! That's right!" The young woman perked up. "I'm Tamako Kitashirakawa, and the Sirfetch'd resting on my head is Dela!"

"Nice to meet you fine young ladies!" Dela chirped out, sending both Kumiko and Reina into the weird zone again.

* * *

A/N: Whoo! With this chapter, To Be A Solister finally breaks the 100k word barrier (at least on AO3). Thank you to all loyal readers for sticking through for this long. The story's going to ramp up even more in the next few chapters, starting with the confrontation between Kumiko, Reina, and HTT, along with other surprises to come, so stay tuned!


	27. Chapter 27: Dramatic Market Ride

"What…" Kumiko was left speechless. Though she had seen plenty of weird things on her journey across the region, a talking Sirfetch'd seemed to have topped the list right then and there.

"I said, nice to meet you." Dela reiterated, completely unaware that the people he was addressing were completely shocked at his ability to speak.

"Dela, it looks like you've scared them quite a bit." Tamako noted. "They most likely haven't seen a talking Pokémon before, y'know?"

"Well, Pokémon who are capable of human speech are quite rare," Reina commented, wanting to know more about this strange occurrence. "Chatot can mimic some phrases, and there are reports of a talking Meowth, but this is the first time I've seen a Sirfetch'd who's able to do so. Speaking of which, where are your lance and shield?"

"Ah! You must be talking about my royal regalia!" Though his expression and tone of voice still remained chipper, there was a tinge of sadness in Dela's mannerisms. "...I lost them on the way here from-"

Dela's next words were cut off by a log suddenly slamming into him from behind, sending him tumbling off Tamako's head onto the floor. Alarmed, Tamako bent down to check on Dela's condition as a Timburr retrieved the log it had thrown, followed by the arrival of three other people.

"Tamako, there you are." a girl with brown hair blandly commented. She was wearing a black dress with large green polka dots under a yellow sweater, pink tights, and grey fur boots. "Sorry about my Timburr knocking Dela off your head. His lamenting was getting too noisy again."

"We've been looking for you all over!" a girl with blonde hair exclaimed. Wearing a brown jacket over a lime-green collared shirt, pink shorts, and brown boots with blue thigh-high socks, she seemed to be the most energetic person in the group, an Audino by her side mimicking her gestures.

"Are you alright? Did you run into some trouble?" a boy with light brown hair enquired, his voice having a more affectionate tone to it. Though he was wearing a purple shirt under a maroon hoodie, light grey pants, and olive-green sneakers, what made him stand out to Kumiko and Reina was that he bore more than a passing resemblance to Shuichi.

Not that Reina needed more reminders such a person existed.

With a Minior floating next to him, the boy went to Tamako's side and took her hand, both of them visibly blushing as he did so, helping her off the ground. Even after she was up, the two didn't seem to show signs of breaking apart anytime soon.

Though everyone present was slightly affected by this bizarre tension, no one said a word for fear of disrupting this tender moment. After the romantic awkwardness slowly dissipated from the scene, Tamako was the first to speak despite her face still being faintly red.

"Since everybody's just met right now, I know the best way to break the ice!" Tamako offered. "Let's all go have some mochi!"

* * *

Outside the mochi shop Tama-ya, owned by Tamako's family, Kumiko and Reina were snacking on some mochi that Tamako had given them a short while earlier. While Kumiko had tried mochi before and enjoyed it, the taste of freshly-steamed mochi really did put it on another level altogether.

"Did you like the mochi?" Tamako asked. "My family's been in the mochi business for a lot of generations, so I hope that our recipe fits your tastes!"

The sweetness of the bean paste inside her mochi eagerly tickling her tongue, Kumiko could only give one possible answer. "Mm! It's excellent! I've never tasted better mochi in my life before!"

"The chewy texture of the mochi combined with the delicate sweetness of the azuki bean filling perfectly complement each other, especially in your family's mochi." Reina responded. "Though it's slightly different compared to the mochi I've had before, the little touches make it all the more special."

"Oh yeah!" Tamako exclaimed. "I was so caught up in thinking about mochi that I completely forgot about introducing my friends! Kumiko and Reina, Kanna, Midori and Mochizou. Kanna, Midori and Mochizou, Kumiko and Reina."

"Nice to meet you." Kanna greeted. "All of us have been friends since we were kids, so we're quite close with each other. I think she forgot to mention this, but Tamako and Mochizou are currently a couple."

Upon hearing Kanna say that without any reservation at all, both Tamako and Mochizou's faces immediately went red, their feelings for each other spiking up rather obviously once again.

"Kanna-chan, don't say those things so casually!" Tamako panicked. "You know we've only started dating a little while back! There's no need to announce it in front of people just like that, especially when we've just met them!"

"Tamako's right!" Mochizou added on, following his girlfriend's lead. "We haven't really been keeping this a secret from everyone else, and it should've been kinda obvious, considering the way we were acting."

"OK then." Kanna replied. "It's just that you two didn't say it out loud, so I thought that Kumiko and Reina didn't notice. My mistake."

"You still haven't told us why you need our help, Tamako." Reina directly addressed the mochi heiress. "When we first bumped into you, literally in Kumiko's case, you seemed to be in a hurry. Were you looking for something important?"

"Yes!" Tamako's eyes lit up in a fit of urgency. "I'm sorry I forgot to tell you earlier, but the reason I was scurrying around here is because I was finding a lost delivery!"

"A lost delivery?" Reina enquired. "What sort of delivery was it?"

"Well, to tell you guys the truth, it's kind of embarrassing…" Tamako admitted. "So a while back, I had an idea to promote the mochi shop by ordering a custom mascot costume of a character Kanna drew up named Mochi-kun. The delivery was supposed to arrive today, but I've looked all over Usagiyama and I can't find the truck!"

"Where and when was it supposed to arrive?" Reina asked. "If there were any unusual circumstances that caused the delivery to be delayed, the delivery company is obliged to tell you."

"It was supposed to arrive an hour ago outside the shop." Tamako answered, her face right now seeming like she was about to burst into tears. "But I've already went around Usagiyama and there's no truck that looks like it!"

Now Kumiko was starting to get curious. "There might be a chance the driver made a mistake and arrived somewhere else. From my own experience ordering things online, there should be a function on the app where you can track the delivery truck. Did you have a look at it?"

"Let me see…" Tamako took out her phone and scrolled through some menus, prompting Mochizou to go over and look at his girlfriend's progress. "Ah! Found it! It says that it's parked about 500 meters from where we are. Why didn't I think of this sooner?"

"Then let us advance in that direction!" Dela declared while perching on top of Tamako's head, causing everyone to realize that he had either disappeared all of a sudden or had been remarkably quiet for the last while. "Onward, brave soldiers!"

"There's a problem though." Mochizou pointed out. "To get to where the truck is, we'll have to cut through a lot of alleyways and underground passages, so the actual distance is about three times that."

"What are we waiting for?" Midori spoke up. "Let's get going!"

"Hold up there, you're stealing my lines!" Dela semi-jokingly exclaimed. "I was the one who said that first! When I make my triumphant return to whence I came from, the first order of business I shall see to is suing you for copyright infringement!"

"You can't do that!" Midori retorted. "How can you copyright something you said in the first place?"

"In my country, any guardian of the royal family-" Dela was once again interrupted by Kanna's Timburr throwing its log at him, knocking him off Tamako head-first. Growling, it seemed to have done this without any command from its Trainer at all, but rather out of annoyance to the pompous Sirfetch'd.

Sighing, Tamako picked Dela up and cradled him in her arms before remembering something. "Wait, where's Shiori and Choi? Why don't we ask them to help as well? After all, many hands make light work!"

"If I remember correctly, Shori's at badminton practice and Choi's went back to her country for the break." Midori reminded Tamako, who felt Dela squirming around in her arms as he wallowed around in despair.

"Ahh, Lady Choi," he beckoned at the skies. "Why? O why did you abandon your humble servant when making a return back to our country? Have you forgot about all that I have sacrificed for your family? Oh, woe is I!"

Upon regaining some sense of self-awareness, Dela immediately realized that everyone else had already set off, leaving him rolling on the ground all alone. Picking himself up with his wings, Dela's chubby body slowed him down as he attempted to catch up with the group via a mix of walking and flying, failing at both simultaneously.

"Puff… pant." he gasped in exhaustion. "My two favourite ladies have deserted me, and now my companions too! What have I done to deserve such a terrible fate!"

* * *

Walking down a narrow alleyway that led into yet another underground passage, Kumiko was lost as to why someone would design such a confusing system of roads like these. Though they had started almost half an hour ago, Kumiko felt that they were only walking in circles and not getting anywhere close to their goal at all.

"Gah, at the rate we're going, we'll miss the concert!" she exclaimed, causing everyone's heads to turn towards her. "Would it kill the people who designed this place to at least make it a lot more accessible?"

After realizing that she had spoken out loud once again, Kumiko's face turned red in embarrassment at how insensitive she had just been. "Sorry. I was just so worked up about the concert that Reina and I are going to later today that I got a bit impatient there."

"It's OK. We all have those moments." Reina consoled her special one. "Speaking of which, the reason why everything's so disorganized is because the land surrounding the Ledger Line was all dug up to mine the precious minerals underneath shortly after everyone living above was relocated. Only a small strip of worthless bedrock connecting the region from one end to another remained, which became the Ledger Line, with all the dead-end streets above remaining intact."

"There's also a vast underground network of pedestrian, automobile, and train tunnels above the bedrock layer, which we're about to head into." Kanna informed the group. "So many tunnels were built over the years that no complete map exists, especially deep below."

Walking down into the tunnel, Kumiko could feel the vibrations of various modes of transportation rumbling in the other passageways all around her. As the group progressed through the underground walkway, Kumiko was struck by a still-unanswered question she had as she watched Dela do various stunts on Tamako's head.

"Tamako, is Dela your Pokémon?" she asked. Dela had previously mentioned he had come from another country, but it wasn't impossible that Tamako had captured him later on.

"Nuh-uh!" Tamako replied. "He's still technically a wild Pokémon, though he's quite well-trained for one. As for my own Pokémon, I do have a Goomy named Mochi. He's very shy, so he doesn't like to come out of his Pokéball aside from eating, sleeping, and battling."

"We actually found Mochi hiding in a tray of well, mochi." Mochizou admitted. "Tamako was about to put it in the oven when she heard some faint gurgling sounds, and quickly rescued him before he melted. After taking care of him as a wild Pokémon for a while, Tamako officially bought a Pokéball and captured him."

"Mochi's actually quite strong in battle, though I'm not the best Trainer around." Tamako sheepishly admitted, scratching the back of her head with her hand. "I'm too busy running the family mochi shop to do training with Mochi, so he sometimes challenges the stray wild Pokémon that wanders by on his own and does his own thing in battles without me giving him any orders."

"A Pokémon that makes its own decisions in battle," Reina mused. "Most of the cases I've heard about are of the Trainer training their Pokémon to do so, but it seems like your Goomy is strong and smart enough to make his own decisions."

Kumiko thought back to when she rescued Hazuki and Midori from a rampaging Poliwrath at the start of her journey along with Marcato and Orpheus. While she clearly recalled given orders at the beginning, she really didn't remember making any decisions for them other than those. Were Marcato and Orpheus both more savvy and intelligent than her?

Chalking it up to being a novice Trainer with Pokémon already familiar to the frenzy of battle, Kumiko realized the group had already ascended back above ground again, though Tamako was still staring at her phone in confusion.

"That's strange…" she pondered. "The truck should be parked down the road from here, but I can't see it anywhere I'm looking."

"Maybe we should get closer and take a better look?" Midori suggested, to which Tamako responded with a simple nod and began to walk again, everyone following her.

Once the group arrived to the precise location that Tamako's phone indicated, no truck was in sight from all directions. Turning her head several more times, Tamako was about to concede defeat when Kanna noticed something on her phone screen.

"Tamako, the fine print on the app says that there's a margin of error of about 50 meters." Kanna informed the mochi queen. "We should search around the area before calling the delivery company or something."

Noticing a tunnel for cars leading underground, Kumiko pointed it out to the rest of the group. "Some of us could also search underground. That could be where the truck's parked. After all, the app didn't specify what level the truck was on."

"That's a good idea!" Tamako agreed. "Now, we should divide ourselves into two groups to search both areas. Who's with me?"

Mochizou, Midori, and Kanna instinctively gravitated towards Tamako, while Kumiko and Reina stuck by each others' side. With the groups being more or less decided naturally, the odd one out here was Dela, who was stuck in the middle after Kanna's Timburr (somehow) knocked him off Tamako's head without anyone noticing.

Spinning around as he decided which group to join, Dela fell face-first in Kumiko and Reina's direction as he collapsed from dizziness. Seeing that the Sirfetch'd had chosen which group he would go with, Midori's Audino kicked him over with a stubby leg, sending him crashing into Kumiko's arms.

"Ah! It seems that I am once again in the care of a young maiden!" Dela exclaimed as he regained awareness. "With my keen sense of smell, sniffing out the underground for Lady Tamako's mascot costume won't be a problem at all!"

"Then it's settled!" Tamako declared. "Kumiko, Reina, and Dela will search the tunnels, while we'll look around this neighbourhood! Let's meet up back at Tama-ya one hour later, OK?"

"Sounds good." With a wave of hands, Kumiko, Reina, and Dela departed into the passageway that led them below the ground, while Tamako, Midori, Mochizou, and Kanna began to search the streets for any sign of the missing truck.

"Operation Mochi-Go, commence!" Tamako proclaimed, causing Midori and Kanna to sweatdrop at her eccentric tendencies as Mochizou blushed at how cute his girlfriend was.

* * *

_Twenty-five minutes later…_

"Still no luck, Tamako?" Midori asked.

"Nope." Tamako replied. "I feel like I've been circling this area for a long time, only with nothing to show for it.

"Me neither." Mochizou added on as he arrived from where he was searching. "I know we're searching in the right area, but let's just double-check to make sure."

"Tamako, look over there." Kanna pointed to her side. "I think that's what we're looking for."

Gazing over, Tamako could never have guessed the sight that awaited her in a thousand years. Sure, the Mochi-kun costume was there, but it seemed like a drunkard was wearing it, the person inside stumbling around with a complete lack of orientation, crashing into nearby street lamps multiple times without stopping.

What made this surreal sight look even more strange was that the person inside the Mochi-kun costume was surrounded by a herd of Galarian Zigzagoon and Linoone crowding around, preventing any deadlier crashes from happening by serving as some sort of living barrier. Slowly, the Mochi-kun began tottering towards the entrance of a building.

"There it is! Let's get it back from whoever's wearing it!" Tamako declared, running after the Mochi-kun, with her friends following suit, ready to reclaim Tamako's stolen goods.

* * *

"Dela, are you sure this is the right way?"

"Never fear, young lady!" Dela addressed Kumiko. "My sense of smell is the finest in my kingdom! Now, if you two leave the rest up to me, then I will guide you to the treasure we all desire!"

"You're guiding us nowhere." Reina sternly informed Dela. "This is the third time I'm sure we've walked past this point, possibly more if my memory serves right. We're not getting anywhere with you at the helm."

"Ah, and therein we find the problem!" Dela spread out his wings. "It seems to appear that I am not properly at the helm yet! Young brown-haired maiden, would you mind if I settle yourself on your head and make you my personal mount?"

"OK…" Truth be told, Kumiko's arms were starting to ache from holding Dela for so long. The Sirfetch'd was really as heavy as he looked, most likely due to constantly eating mochi from Tamako's family store.

As Dela tried to fly with his wings, he was given a grim reminder that gravity was a harsh mistress indeed, all the weight he gained far outstripping whatever thrust he could generate with his feathered appendages. "A little help here please, young miss?"

Sighing, Kumiko hoisted Dela up onto her head, the Sirfetch'd happily snuggling comfortably in her hair. "Mm, quite different from Lady Tamako's indeed. Who could have guessed that curly hair would be better for the posterior?"

"Can you see now?" Reina sardonically asked, getting slightly aggravated that Dela was spending more time playing with her special one's hair than using his alleged prodigious sense of smell to find the truck, however that worked.

"Mighty fine, my dear!" Dela reassured her. "Your friend's head here is the perfect perching place for a member of the royal court like me! Cushions could be made out of her locks for snuggling in!"

Reina had occasionally thought about rubbing her head against Kumiko's and touching her desired's extremely fluffy hair, but Dela's mere mention of being able to do so right there and then made Reina extremely jealous that a male bird, not her, had gotten that exclusive opportunity first.

Unable to contain her envious anger anymore, Reina waited until Kumiko had got slightly ahead of her, then curled her right hand into a fist and sent it straight into Dela's plump behind, causing him to have an unscheduled flight without the assistance of his wings.

As Dela struggled to realign himself midair, Kumiko and Reina could hear weird clanking noises coming from above them steadily getting louder. Before any of them could process what was happening, the panel above where Dela was futilely maintaining his altitude gave way, and it came crashing down with a plume of dust, revealing Natsuki Nakagawa and Yuuko Yoshikawa on top of it in a compromising position.

"Why the hell did we end up here, you disaster?" Yuuko barked at Natsuki. "I put you in charge of Teleporting, and somehow we find ourselves down in some random tunnel! If this is how bad your sense of direction is, I don't even want to know how you manage to survive with your other senses!"

"Oh, it's my problem now?" Natsuki retorted. "Who was it that needed my help getting to Ongaku Stadium now! If it wasn't for me, we'd be forced to wake up at 5 a.m. this morning! At least be thankful that I'm carrying your sorry ass around Octiva!"

"Sheesh, give me a break!" Yuuko was getting furious. At this point, Kumiko and Reina were unsure if their friends had even noticed them at all. "With how we keep getting into these sorts of scenarios, we won't be able to meet up with Nozomi and Mizore there!"

"You do the Teleporting if you're so confident in your own skills, princess." Natsuki sniped back. "Besides, Soul's starting to get tired from having to do so many jumps, and there's only so many times Zenzense can give him a Psychic boost."

"Fine, I'll do it myself." Yuuko grumbled. "I don't want to miss this concert either. You know how hard it is to get tickets for HTT. I'm actually surprised that Mizore actually managed to get four!"

Sending out Heart, Yuuko's Meowstic took one look at the situation her and Soul's Trainers were in and sighed, before putting her hands on both of them and Teleporting them away.

Kumiko turned to Reina. "What was that about?"

"I have no idea."

After the Nakayoshikawa duo were gone (Kumiko was slightly terrified at how she had just subconsciously adopted Natsuki's self-given nickname for them), Kumiko and Reina heard a creaking sound under the metal panel. The agonizing noise continued until Dela managed to roll out from underneath, somehow managing to survive the combined weight of the Natsuki, Yuuko, and the panel collapsing directly on him.

"How are you still alive after all that?" Reina questioned. It seemed like this Sirfetch'd was no normal bird. "That would have killed any other Pokémon your size ten times over."

"Ah! It must be because of my royal training!" Dela responded while still laying sideways on the ground. "I've faced challenges more excruciating than this in the service of the royal family. 'Tis but a flesh wound."

Dela then realized the predicament he was in. "...Though nothing I've ever faced has ever prepared me for this. A little help getting up, please?"

* * *

Following the person wearing the Mochi-kun costume into the building, Tamako, Mochizou, Midori, and Kanna immediately realized what they had walked into was a textile factory/warehouse hybrid that seemed larger on the inside.

Around the building, a swarm of Galarian Zigzagoon and Linoone were rushing around, bringing various materials and supplies to different assembly lines and collecting the end results, with an Obstagoon on a catwalk hanging above observing their work.

Once the last of the Zigzagoon and Linoone surrounding the Mochi-kun costume had entered the building, some of the cohort climbed up Mochi-kun's arms and back, then knocked the head off to reveal even more Zigzagoon and Linoone inside.

"What the…" Mochizou was astounded by the sheer scale and intensity of this Pokémon-run operation. He thought that making mochi on New Year's Eve was the most hectic thing imaginable, but everything going on in this factory completely outshone that. Just what was all this hustle and bustle for?

"Look over there!" Midori noted, prompting everyone else to see what she was pointing at. On top of one of the many assembly lines was the head of a Tuba-kun mascot suit. While it seemed mostly intact, several Linoone were manning computerized sewing machines that were in the process of sewing patches of cloth onto the shoddier parts of the mascot suit's head.

"So that's what they needed the Mochi-kun suit for." Kanna exclaimed in dull surprise. "I think I read somewhere once that the instrument line of mascot suits had discontinued production several years ago, so whoever's behind all this must have needed the body of a mascot suit from the same company to complete their own mascot suit, and it just so happens that Mochi-kun's body matches."

"Well done, young detectives!" a voice called out, followed by a sarcastic slow clap. Looking in the direction of the newcomer, the Usagiyama quartet saw a woman about to reach her thirties (Tamako wasn't sure how she knew that) with long brown hair framing simple wire-frame glasses. Though she wore a simple light blue dress and white flats, the expression she carried in her eyes was anything but.

"Looks like you've managed to figure out my plan to infiltrate the League a bit too early!" she announced as if she was admitting defeat. "Too bad I'm not planning on leaving any trace behind! Zigzagoon! Linoone! Obstagoon! Sic 'em!" The woman then tried her best to cackle wickedly, but all that came out was a strained laugh.

"Wait, what?" Midori exclaimed before the massive horde of black-and-white Pokémon quickly rushed towards them, with the Obstagoon swinging down from its catwalk using chains hanging from the ceiling. Faced with no other choice, Midori sent out her Audino, while she saw Kanna's Timburr already starting to fend off the mass of Pokémon with its log.

"Stuff them up, Bota!" Mochizou sent out his Minior while trying to dodge the various attacks their opponents were using. "Use Dazzling Gleam!"

Seeing her friends defending themselves from the ongoing assault, Tamako wanted to avoid battling as much as possible due to her own inexperience, but was ultimately forced to join the fray as the wave of Pokémon gradually advanced towards her. "Let's pound them into mochi, Mochi!"

As soon as Tamako's Goomy was out on the battlefield, he immediately began to use his amorphous body to its fullest effect, twisting and morphing it to avoid attacks coming his way while knocking opponents left and right through normally impossible maneuvers.

Slowly but surely, Tamako and her friends managed to push the Pokémon horde back to their unknown Trainer, forcing her into a retreat. However, these wins became short-lived when the Obstagoon finally managed to wade through the crowd of it's pre-evolutions and began attacking Midori's Audino, effortlessly defeating it with a series of well-placed Cross Chops.

Infused with regained confidence thanks to their leader's victory, the swarm of Zigzagoon and Linoone began a counterattack, taking back the area that they just lost. The Obstagoon then surged forwards towards Kanna's Timburr, taking it out with a single Mega Punch.

Mochizou's Minior Bota tried to intercept the incoming Obstagoon with another Dazzling Gleam, but it was blocked by an Obstruct followed by a Thunder Punch, which managed to crack its rocky outer defenses and expose its core.

"Use Dazzling Gleam again!" Mochizou ordered. A flash of light more radiant than the previous attack washed over the Obstagoon before it could defend itself, dealing even more damage to it. However, even this extra power seemed to not affect the Obstagoon at all, and Bota was down for the count after a second Thunder Punch.

Seeing everyone else's Pokémon defeated, Tamako knew that they had to find some way to escape out of the building before things got even worse, but seeing a small squad of Zigzagoon block the doors they came in from made her doubt any prospects of going out that way.

But she somehow knew that everything would be all right.

* * *

"I can sense it! Lady Tamako's in danger!" Dela suddenly cried out. "I need to be by her side in this perilous moment!"

"Yeah, and we'll somehow find the mascot costume down the path you're leading us." Kumiko snarked back. Following Dela's instructions, Kumiko and Reina progressed deeper down the tunnels, but didn't seem to find any trace of the truck or the Mochi-kun costume.

"No, I mean it!" Dela begged. "Please, let me go save her! She needs my help right now, or else this will be the end of her!"

Thinking about whether or not to trust the Sirfetch'd or not after all the missteps he made during their underground jaunt, Reina came to the conclusion that letting him head back to Tamako would make the rest of their journey go much more smoothly. "Fine. You can go. Just don't cause any trouble on the way up."

"Oh, thank you, thank you!" Dela hopped off Kumikos head and onto an exposed air vent before climbing up with surprisingly stout strength. "Fear not, Lady Tamako! I shall come to your rescue!"

Once Dela disappeared from sight, Kumiko turned to Reina. "Now how are we supposed to get out of here? Dela lead us down here, so he should know how to get back up, but we don't know where we are now that he's left us!"

"There's a supply lift that will take you two back to the surface, Ms. Oumae, Ms. Kousaka." a muffled voice announced out of the blue. Kumiko and Reina turned to look in that direction and saw a person wearing a Tuba-kun mascot suit behind them.

"Wha- who are you, and how do you know our names?" Kumiko questioned. She remembered that Aoi had previously met a mysterious person in a Tuba-kun suit before, but whether or not that person had any relation to the person standing in front of them remained to be seen.

"I still have unfinished business to conduct down here. Good luck, you two. You will need it for what lies ahead of you." With that parting sentence, the person wearing the Tuba-kun suit abruptly left the scene, leaving Kumiko and Reina standing alone in the tunnel.

"I have completely no idea whether that was a shared hallucination or not, but come on, let's get going." Reina told Kumiko. "We've still got a costume to find."

* * *

"Mochi, no!" Tamako cried out as the Obstagoon sent her Goomy flying back to her with a single Ice Punch, freezing him in the process.

"You see, kids?" the woman in front of them taunted. "Resistance is futile! Now, prepare to meet your doom!"

"Not so fast, old hag!" someone cried out from above. Tamako and her friends looked above them and saw Dela on the catwalk, covered in dust and other unknown substances. "I, Dela Mochimazzui, have come here to save my friends and the day! Brick Break!"

"Why, you little bird! I'll have you-" Before the woman could make any more retaliatory comments towards Dela, he had already leapt off from the catwalk with both his wings glowing a dark red, slamming them into the Obstagoon with full force and knocking it back.

"I'm not finished yet! Close Combat!" Before anyone knew what was going on, Dela had already curled up his wings into fists and sent out a flurry of punches towards the Obstagoon's general direction, knocking out several unsuspecting Zigzagoon and Linoone in the process.

"And now for the pièce de résistance!" Dela announced, picking up one of the fainted Linoone by the tail before retreating back to where Tamako and her friends were standing. "This Pokèmon may not be as hardy compared to my royal regalia, but it shall suffice in this situation! Meteor Assault!"

His body crackling with a golden energy, Dela surged forward in the blink of an eye and dashed across the room in a streak of gold. The intense power of his attack knocked out all the Zigzagoon and Linoone in the room through sheer wind force before it finally impacted the Obstagoon head-on, causing an explosion to appear.

When the dust cleared, Mochizou saw that all their opponents had fainted, leaving the woman at the opposite side of the room all alone. Walking across the room, Tamako picked up the completely exhausted Dela before heading over with her friends to confront their adversary.

"...And I would've gotten away with it if it wasn't for you meddling kids," the woman spat. "And your little bird too!"

"Why did you steal the Mochi-kun suit?" Mochizou questioned. "You could've made your own with all the resources you have here!"

"...the material." the woman simply answered. "It's only made by that one company, so I couldn't find it anywhere else. Ugh, I'll have to resort to my backup for the final phase of the plan now. How uncouth for a woman like me, but it'll give them something to do. At least it's all for their sake, so they should have a part to play."

"Plan? What plan?" Mochizou was curious about what this woman was planning. Judging by the size of this operation alone, whatever this woman had up her sleeves clearly went beyond anything he could possibly imagine. However, just when she was about to answer him, Tamako took something out from the pocket of her hoodie and gave it to the woman.

"Here, have some mochi." Tamako offered. "I know that you stole the Mochi-kun suit, but it seems like you ultimately wanted to make some people you cared about happy. The suit belongs to me, but I believe that mochi can solve all the problems in the world, so that's why I gave you some to make you feel less down. Don't worry, I won't tell anyone about this. They won't believe it anyways."

"...Thank you." the woman replied, recalling the Obstagoon back into a Pokèball before doing the same with the other Zigzagoon and Linoone, all while eating the mochi Tamako gave her. "I'll give you back the suit, but I still owe you one for stealing it in the first place. If you need help with anything, call the associated number for this building and ask for Yamanaka, Sawako Yamanaka. Until then, I need to get going for a concert at Ongaku Stadium later today to meet a special duo. See you!"

After the woman left the building, Tamako picked up the Mochi-kun suit now laying on the floor, Dela now having regained enough strength to perch on her head again. "It's kind of hard to believe that a mascot suit could cause this much trouble. Oh well, let's tell Kumiko and Reina that we've found it!"

* * *

"Well, that seemed a little bit anticlimactic on your end." Kumiko commented to Tamako after they all gathered back at Tamaya. According to the mochi queen herself, Tamako's group had found the suit in a trash can guarded by a gang of Galarian Zigzagoon, Linoone, and Obstagoon, and Dela arrived in the nick of time after all their Pokèmon had been wiped out by the Obstagoon to defeat it. "At least Dela wasn't lying to us."

"Like I said, my intuition never fails me!" Dela triumphantly declared. "Thank you very much, Lady Kumiko and Lady Reina, for allowing me to rescue my dear compatriots. I can never repay this debt to you."

"Well then, we'd better get going." Reina told everyone else. "We've still got a concert to catch at Ongaku Stadium later today. Thank you all for your hospitality. If we come back here in the future, we'll be sure to visit you all again."

"See you!" Kumiko and Reina said in unison, waving goodbye to their newfound friends, who waved back in response.

"Wait a moment…" A thought struck Tamako after Kumiko and Reina disappeared from view. "The woman we met said she was heading to Ongaku Stadium for a concert later today to meet two very special people. Did anyone else feel something different when we met Kumiko and Reina? Like they had some sort of unbreakable bond?"

An uneasy thought dawned on the Usagiyama quartet as they came to the realization that they may have inadvertently set their new friends on a collision course with destiny.

* * *

"Sawa-chan-sensei! You promised you wouldn't be late for our show today!"

"Sorry, sorry!" Sawako profusely apologized. "I hate to break it to you five, but it seems that you'll actually need to do something after all when the day finally comes!"

"Yes! Then that means everyone will know how strong we are! Thanks a lot, Sawa-chan-sensei! You're the best!"

"But I thought you said that we wouldn't need to worry about it? What changed?"

"Nothing major," Sawako replied. "But it involved mochi. Some damn good mochi."

"Well, in any case, now that that's settled, let's rock!"

* * *

A/N: While this crossover with Tamako Market may have seemingly come out of nowhere, I've already planned for this to happen from the beginning, as the relatively lighthearted and comedic tone of this chapter serves as a buffer between the fourth Gym battle last chapter and all the madness happening next chapter.

Speaking of which, you won't believe what I've got planned for Kumiko and Reina's showdown with HTT, so stay tuned for what's going down next week!

(Also, I'm quite pleased to see that the Hibike fanfic scene seems to have a little revival going on, with four new fics popping up in the last week! Guess I'm not the only one who's got some stories to tell!)


	28. Chapter 28: Cageyake! GIRLS

For maximum enjoyment when reading this chapter, please listen to these HTT songs when they appear in the story:

\- Cageyake! GIRLS (5 person version)

\- Fuwa Fuwa Time (Yui + Mio version)

\- Fude Pen Boru Pen (Yui + Mio version)

\- Watashi no Koi wa Hotchkiss (Yui + Mio version)

\- Don't Say Lazy

All of them are available on YouTube, Spotify, and Apple Music.

* * *

"Well, here we are, Kumiko." Reina declared. "After everything that we've been through, we've finally made it to the largest performance and battling venue in all of Octiva: Ongaku Stadium."

Standing in front of the massive stadium, Kumiko couldn't help but feel dwarfed by the gigantic architecture. With the structure lit up by floodlights placed around its perimeter, Kumiko was wondering if all the shadows being cast over her were meant to be some sort of ominous warning for what they might face once inside.

"Are you ready, Reina?" Kumiko asked her desired. While they had prepared a contingency in case they were forced to fight for whatever reason, Kumiko still wasn't sure if it was enough against their potential foes, given how little they knew about their potential strength. "There's no knowing what happens once we go in, after all."

"You know me. I'm always ready." Reina replied with a confident smile. "After all, we've both won at the previous Gym despite horrendous type matchups. What could stop us at this point? Even if all of this turns out to be a gigantic red herring, at least we get the chance to enjoy music from a world-famous band."

"I'm hoping that we're just being overly nervous here." Kumiko thought. "But after what Asuka and Aoi told us in the past few days, along with our frequent encounters with people who seem to work for them, I'm starting to doubt that they're a normal band."

"Agreed." Reina seemed more pensieve upon hearing Kumiko's ponderings. "There's too much out of the ordinary here for this to be normally rationalized, so I'm already leaning towards something being planned that specifically involves us tonight. If everything so far was designed to lure us here, then what's the trap?"

"That's what I'm worried about too." In that moment, Kumiko's feelings matched Reina's. "Since they've pulled out all the stops to get us where they want us, what's their end goal here?"

"Whatever the case, there's no turning back now." Reina simply responded. "Destiny led us here, so we may as well see what it has in store for us. After all, the greatest fear is fear itself."

After approaching the main entrance and presenting their tickets to the attendant, Kumiko and Reina followed their instructions and headed down a flight of stairs, before turning left and heading down a corridor that encircled the stadium, followed by another flight of stairs. Once they were back outdoors again, the pair quickly realized that they were in the front row, where the most expensive seats were.

"Holy Arceus…" Kumiko was speechless at this revelation. "We've got front-row seats to the show. I know HTT wanted us here for a reason, but just how valuable are we to whatever they're planning?"

"If they're willing to do this much for us, probably a lot." Reina replied. "Though I still can't figure out how we're involved in the grand scheme of things. We haven't even met them in person yet, so what do they want from us?"

Kumiko pondered on that question as the stadium slowly filled out with people, with nearly every seat seeming to be occupied by someone. For such a gigantic stadium, getting a full house like this was not an easy task, but the fact that it was already reaching maximum capacity spoke volumes about HTT's popularity, despite Kumiko not knowing much about the group to gauge anything else about them.

Checking her watch, Kumiko realized that the concert was about to begin, which was then confirmed when the gigantic screens spread out evenly across all four sides of the circular stadium began to broadcast the standard message about general venue etiquette, indicating that the concert was about to begin.

As soon as the last message finished ("Stay tuned for the upcoming event!"), all the lights in the stadium went black. Since it was already evening, this meant that the stadium was now completely wreathed in darkness. Hearing distressed whispers, Kumiko worried that something had gone terribly wrong, and was about to turn to Reina when the screens lit up, followed by tens of thousands of light sticks and the shrieking of excited fans.

_"They sent a shockwave through Unova!" White text on a black background accompanied a woman's deep voice._

_ "Where are you now, Ritsu?" A young woman with long, black hair wearing a school uniform with a bass case on her back talked on her phone in the midst of a traffic jam, with all cars involved honking their horns. "What, I can't hear yo-" Her words were then cut off by an explosion behind her in the background, causing her to freeze as her hair flew up from the resulting shockwave._

_ "They're coming back!" Another black and white text-plus-speech visual flashed on the screens._

_ A young woman with short brown hair wearing the same school uniform with a guitar case on her back struck a kung-fu pose in the middle of a crowded venue, not unlike the corridors Kumiko and Reina walked through to get here._

_ "Today, finally coming to Octiva!" One more text/speech visual came on._

_ An older woman dressed as a casino dealer stood in front of a card table, mountains casino chips stacked on top of each other._

_ A flash of another young woman with lighter short brown hair held back with a headband and wearing the school uniform banging drumsticks together._

_ A flash of a girl with black hair in long twintails and wearing a school uniform with a red ribbon sitting on a chair cradling a guitar._

_ A flash of a young woman with blonde hair wearing sunglasses standing in a snow-covered forest._

_ "HOKAGO TEA TIME!" the text-and speech visual returned once more, this time with blood-red text and the 'O's replaced by the band's logo._

As the cheers of the hyped-up audience reached a deafening crescendo, Reina took something out of her bag and handed them to Kumiko. "Here, have these earplugs. I've got a feeling that this concert will be loud, and I don't want you or myself to lose our hearing, since we're musicians and all."

"Thanks." Stuffing the earplugs into her ears, Kumiko found the reduced volume a lot more comfortable to bear compared to the shattering decibels the crowd had already reached without any music or vocals, though it took a short while for the tinnitus to fully go away.

All the stadium's spotlights swung towards the center as the final visual faded from the screens. The ground making up the circular pitch slightly lowered before retracting towards the sides in multiple pieces like the shutter of a camera, and a platform began to slowly rise up from underneath, the opening riff of a song emanating from amps placed below as it did so.

On the platform were five girls standing in a circle facing outwards with their instruments, all wearing the same school uniform consisting of a white dress shirt, navy blue blazer, grey skirt, and brown leather shoes, though there were some slight differences in how they individually wore them.

"Hello, Octiva!" the drummer yelled. "Are you ready to rock!"

After hearing the enthusiastic cheers of the crowd, she raised her drumsticks in the air. "Then let's get this show on the road! 1-2-1-2-3-4!"

Chatting Now

Gachi de kashimashi Never Ending Girls' Talk

shuugyou chaimu made matenai

chikoku wa shite mo soutai wa Non Non Non!

seiippai Study After School

The energetic and upbeat opening sung by the high-pitched guitarist resounded throughout the entire arena, and Kumiko and Reina soon found themselves clapping alongside the entire audience. While Kumiko felt like she was surrendering herself to the music's mood at times and becoming one with it, the earplugs she wore helped to prevent her from getting lost in the sheer intensity of it all.

As the band blasted through the song, the solos began after the second chorus with a shout from the keyboardist. "Yuuuu-i!"

The lead guitarist then began to launch into an impressive fast-paced guitar melody amidst cheers from fans, who loudly chanted her name before she ended her solo with a shout. "A-zu-sa!"

Though her style was far less wild than the lead guitarist's, the secondary guitarist still displayed extremely high skill, with her technique being even more on point, prior to passing the torch on to the next member. "Mio!

The bassist's solo featured a lot of sliding with her right hand, though the notes she played with her dominating left hand still remained crystal-clear nonetheless, then shifted the spotlight. "Rits~"

After a series of impossibly quick drum-beats from the drummer that Kumiko couldn't keep track of, she then called out the keyboardist's name, completing the cycle of solos. "Mu-gi!"

Playing her solo single-handedly, the keyboardist's flexibility on the synthesizer made Reina think back to her own time on the instrument, and how she had struggled with these sorts of exercises. Evidently, this was no trouble for a professional.

As the band then moved on to the bridge, both Kumiko and Reina couldn't help but be impressed by HTT's musical aptitude. Though all of the band members had vastly different styles, the end result that arose from combining them all together was pure musical bliss, extremely appealing to the ear. No wonder they were so popular.

Approaching the end of their first song, the all-girl band began to wind down, repeating the same phrase multiple times, with everyone in the audience following their lead.

Shining Shiner Shiniest Girls be ambitious & shine

Shining Shiner Shiniest Girls be ambitious & shine

Shining Shiner Shiniest Girls be ambitious & shine

Shining Shiner Shiniest Girls be ambitious & shine

With a short drum fill, the entire stadium fell completely silent for an impossibly short moment before exploding into deafening applause voraciously. Despite being outside of what they normally listened to, Kumiko and Reina were still impressed by the excellent music, and instinctively clapped with the rest of the audience.

"Ehh, how should I begin this?" the lead guitarist began to speak after the applause had died down somewhat. "So we're Hokago Tea Time, and we're actually starting later than usual today because Sawa-chan-sensei had to take care of something urgent. And Sawa-chan-sensei, don't cry. It's OK."

The audience laughed at the lead guitarist's unhappy face as if it was all just an act to them, which was then confirmed when she winked with a smile. The screens quickly cut to show an older woman sitting in the front row, who Kumiko and Reina realized was the same person as the one in the opening trailer.

"Wait, isn't that the person interacting with the lead guitarist's younger sister in the photo Aoi showed us?" Kumiko asked Reina. "Then that would explain why she's so close to the band!"

"You're right!" Reina responded in surprise. "But now I'm wondering what her actual connection is with them, considering she was doing her own thing up until several months ago according to Ms. Saitou. Maybe she's also their teacher or manager?"

"We started the Light Music Club at our high school with the intention of playing at stadiums all around the world." the lead guitarist continued. "Sometimes, we worked part-time to buy a guitar, and we used to have tea in our club room and chit-chat (we actually still do that in our dressing rooms and between practices). We've also had training camps at Mugi-chan's vacation home, then Azu-nyan joined us as a freshman."

"Eventually, us seniors graduated and left Azu-nyan behind, but not before going to Wyndon together and writing a song for her. But thankfully, she joined us in university together a year later (did you know us five attended the same university together?) and then an agent who watched us perform at Wyndon was seriously impressed with us, and signed us onto a record label almost immediately. That's how we began touring professionally and ended up here."

"There's no way we could say that we've been practicing really hard, but here at Ongaku Stadium is what we were aiming for all those years ago! We'll sing our very best to the end!" The guitarist finally concluded to even more applause.

"Huh, a success story that stretches all the way back to high school." Reina mused. "That's how I want to be remembered. Someone who was special all their life; an enduring flame through the ages, not just as a bright spark."

"And now, Fuwa Fuwa Time!" the lead guitarist announced to more cheers before starting to strum her guitar again, followed by the rest of HTT. Almost instantaneously, Kumiko and Reina began clapping their hands as the vocals began.

Kimi wo miteru to itsumo haato dokidoki

Yureru omoi wa mashumarou mitai ni fuwafuwa

itsumo ganbaru (itsumo ganbaru) Kimi no yokogao (Kimi no yokogao)

Zutto mitete mo kizukanai yo ne

Yume no naka nara (yume no naka nara)

Futari no kyori chijimerareru no ni na

Unlike the first song, this one was a duet between the lead guitarist and bassist, with them switching who was singing after each chorus. Following a short bridge sung by the bassist, Kumiko and Reina were surprised when the lead guitarist began rapping, which sharply contrasted with her innocent demeanour and high-pitched voice.

Dakedo sore ga ichiban muzukashii no yo

Hanashi no kikkake to ka doushiyo

Te ka dandori kangaeteru jiten de zenzen shizen ja nai yo ne

Aa mou ii ya nechao nechao nechao-! (Sou! Nechao~)

"Well, that was weird." Kumiko commented to Reina. "I'd never thought I'd hear someone rap in a high-pitched voice, much less in a light rock song about fluffy times."

With the rap over, the song entered its final chorus, and the near continuous chanting from the crowd grew even louder, eventually singing along with the band with the last phrases.

Fuwa Fuwa TIME (Fuwa Fuwa TIME)

Fuwa Fuwa TIME (Fuwa Fuwa TIME)

Fuwa Fuwa TIME (Fuwa Fuwa TIME)

Following one of the largest whole-band ending fills Kumiko had ever heard, a sharp cymbal crash ended this song for good, this time earning applause instantly after the reverbing sound died down.

Once the applause died down, the lead guitarist then signalled for the band to immediately move on to the next song. "What kind of pen do you like to use? It's now time for Fude Pen, Ball Pen!"

Fude pen fufu

Furueru fufu

Hajimete kimi e no Greeting Card

Tokimeki Passion

Afurete Action

Hamedashichau kamo ne

Like the previous song, this one was once again a duet between the lead guitarist and bassist, their contrasting tones perfectly complementing each other. At this point, both Kumiko and Reina were so invested in the music that they automatically clapped their hands without thinking, though their earplugs prevented them from completely being mindless drones.

Ai wo komete surasura to ne saa kakidasou

Uketotta kimi ni shiawase ga tsunagaru you ni

Yume wo misete guruguru to ne ji ga maiodoru

Ganbare fude pen koko made kita kara

Kanari honki yo

Before Kumiko or Reina knew it, the piece was already over, its easy-going rhythm causing them to lose track of time when listening to it. Another long and enthusiastic round of applause later, the band was getting prepared for their next song when the keyboardist suddenly interrupted them.

"Pardon my sudden intrusion, but we've got an important announcement to make before we play My Love Is A Stapler." she began, prompting Kumiko to think about how much her voice resembled Asuka's. "As you all know, this song was written by none other than Mio-chan herself in high school. Back then, we all thought that this was a love song, which she obviously tried to deny."

"But, we're playing this song today because of a very special occasion." the keyboardist continued on. "Mio-chan and Ritsu-chan got engaged to each other!"

Amidst the wild cheers of rabid fans on learning that two of their biggest idols were now one step closer to mutual marriage, the bassist froze on the spot and blushed uncontrollably on the spot, while the drummer buried her face in her hands, still holding her drumsticks.

Once their shared session of embarrassment had ended, the band was finally ready to perform again. With a cue-in from the drummer and another guitar instrumental, the next piece began, another duet between the lead guitarist and bassist.

Nande nan daro

Ki ni naru yoru kimi e no

Kono omoi bin sen ni ne

Kaite miru yo

"They've got excellent synergy with each other." Reina noted to Kumiko. "Being able to perform three songs without even the smallest clash in rhythm or pitch is no small feat. I wish I could get a chance like that someday."

"Yeah, me too. Especially if I did it with you." Kumiko didn't realize she said the last sentence out loud until Reina's eyes widened, then she became flustered as her eyes emitted a gaze that made Kumiko feel as if she was plotting something in her mind.

With both of them stuck in various states of tension and confusion about each other's thoughts, Kumiko and Reina almost didn't realize they sat through the entire song in their trance, only finding out when it began to wind down with the last chorus.

Kirakira hikaru negaigoto mo

Guchagucha hetaru nayamigoto mo

Souda hocchikisu de tojichaou

Hajimari dake wa karui nori de

Shiranai uchi ni atsuku natte

Mou hari ga nandaka tooranai

Rara, mata ashita

After this song had ended, it seemed like the fans in the audience had got even more rabid, the movement of the light sticks and applause becoming frantic and wild, fueled by the romantic resolution between the bassist and drummer.

"And now, one last song, Don't Say Lazy!" the lead guitarist announced to both disappointed moans and excited cheers from the crowd. "But, before we begin, we've got something special planned up to round this spectacular night off!"

"A while ago, we secretly sponsored a Double Battle invitational in Edian City," the drummer explained. "And one of the prizes as part of winning first place were two tickets to this concert. That's definitely one of the coolest things we can offer, but now we've decided to take this one step beyond."

Kumiko and Reina didn't like how their worst fears were coming true.

"We'd like to invite the winners on stage for an exhibition Double Battle against Yui and myself." the secondary guitarist continued. "I know it's a bit sudden, but we'd like everyone here to see just how strong you are. There were some really strong Trainers at that tournament, so we want to see how the underdogs managed to triumph."

"Plus, we always like to keep an eye out for rising talent in both music and battling. That's how we got our big break in the beginning." the keyboardist smiled at the audience as she sent out an Abra. "In a moment, this Abra will Teleport to where you're sitting and come collect you, so be prepared!"

"Why am I not surprised that everything that we thought could happen at this concert did happen?" Kumiko asked Reina. "Were we too paranoid about this entire thing to begin with?"

"Whatever the case, it's probably a good thing that we've anticipated something like this happening after Miss Tanaka gave us a warning beforehand." Reina replied as the Abra appeared in front of them. "Besides, what better way is there to test out the other gifts we got at the tournament?"

Kumiko smiled at Reina's suggestion as they both latched on to the Abra, thankful that all the help they had received on their journey would finally pay off in this unexpected confrontation. Within an instant, they were whisked away from their seats up to the main stage, to the cheers of the crowd and shocked faces from three of their acquaintances attending the concert (the fourth remained indifferent to this situation).

"Please welcome to the stage, Kumiko Oumae and Reina Kousaka!" the lead guitarist yelled, prompting the drummer to play a lengthy drum fill, ending it alongside a bass riff.

"Nice to meet you!" the lead guitarist lowered her voice to a volume more easy on the ears, though it was still as energetic as ever. "I'm Yui Hirasawa and this is Azunya- Azusa Nakano, my girlfriend and secondary guitarist!" Yui gestured over to where her partner was standing. "Is this your first time at one of our concerts?"

"Yes, it is." Reina responded, keeping her reservations about the band to herself. This was no time for hesitation at all, considering they were getting close to figuring out HTT's motives. "Though we don't know how strong you two are, we'll be sure to give you a good fight."

"That's great!" Yui lit up, reminding Kumiko of Tamako in that moment of childlike enthusiasm. "Then we'll be sure not to disappoint either! Now, let's get this show moving!"

As if being cued by Yui, the elevated circular stage shifted around in midair, causing the bassist, keyboardist, and drummer to be relegated to three smaller sub-platforms, leaving Kumiko, Reina, Yui, and Azusa on the largest central platform.

"All right, Ritsu!" Yui pointed at the drummer. "Hit it!"

A short drum fill later, the bassist began to sing, hyping up the crowd with her vocals for the impending battle.

Please don't say "You are lazy"

Datte hontou wa crazy

Hakuchou-tachi wa sou

Mienai toko de bataashi suru ndesu

Honnou ni juujun chuujitsuhonrou mo juujuu shouchi

Zento youyou da shi…

Dakara tama ni kyuukei shichau ndesu

Afterwards, the song shifted to an instrumental section, which Yui took as a cue to send out her own Pokémon. "Let's have some sweet times, Fuwa!"

An Eevee emerged from Yui's Pokéball and happily yapped when landing on the ground, prompting Azusa to get ready and throw her own Pokéball out. "Burn bright red, Mustang!"

A Scizor appeared on the battlefield, standing gallant and tall above the Eevee. Seeing their opponents' choices of Pokémon, Kumiko and Reina nodded at each other, before revealing the Pokémon they had chosen for this special occasion in unison. "Orpheus and Eurydice, let's raise hell!"

Now that their opponents' Pokémon were on the field as well, the remaining members of the band broke the instrumental loop and continued on with the song.

Kono me de shikkari misademete

Ikisaki chizu jou māku shite

Chikamichi areba sore ga oudou

Hashoreru tsubasa mo areba joutou

"Fuwa, Iron Tail/Mustang, Iron Head!" Yui and Azusa ordered in unison, Fuwa's tail and Mustang's head shining a metallic silver before they rushed towards their opponents, ready to strike them down with their super-effective attacks.

"Orpheus/Eurydice, Teleport away!" Upon seeing their opponents close the distance between them simultaneously, Kumiko and Reina immediately knew that neither Orpheus or Eurydice would not stand a chance if they got hit by one of these moves, so the best option they had in the moment was to dodge.

Their Pokémon reappearing in midair, Kumiko and Reina knew that this was the perfect time to retaliate. "Confusion!"

As Orpheus and Eurydice's dual attack was launched towards them, Azusa knew that it wouldn't be a challenge for them to counter. "Mustang, Fling Fuwa up!"

"Wait, what?" Yui was shocked, but her concerns about what Azusa was planning to do were alleviated when her girlfriend's Scizor picked up her Eevee, tail still glowing silver, and threw her up into the air, taking the full brunt of the combined Confusions, but his natural resistance tanked the hits with ease.

Once airborne, Fuwa then positioned herself so that she would be in the middle of Orpheus and Eurydice when she began to descend. Settled on her position, all she had to do now was wait before gravity took its toll and guided her towards her targets.

Before Orpheus and Eurydice had realized what had happened, Fuwa spun around and slammed her tail into both of them, sending them rapidly flying down towards the ground. Just before they landed, Azusa still had one more attack to pull off. "Mustang, Bullet Punch!"

Launching himself forward with the aid of his wings, Mustang came to a screeching halt before punching the air in front of him twice with his right arm, both punches landing on their intended targets of Orpheus and Eurydice with the utmost precision, eliciting massive cheers from the crowd.

"Holy…" Kumiko was left speechless by their opponents' superior coordination. With only the merest of words and glances, they had seamlessly put together an impressive combination of attacks that had left Orpheus and Eurydice incapacitated in the blink of an eye.

"Kumiko, focus." Reina's voice snapped her back to reality. "They may have the upper hand now, but there's still a chance to turn the tide." Shifting her attention back towards what was happening on the battlefield, Reina then gave out her next order. "Eurydice, use Psychic on the Eevee!"

"Orpheus, Fire Punch on the Scizor!" Recovering from the damage they were dealt, Orpheus rushed ahead while Eurydice remained where she was, both of them charging up their attacks before telepathically coordinating to release them at the same time.

Mustang instinctively stretched out his left arm to block Fuwa from taking any damage, but this left him vulnerable to the flaming uppercut Orpheus delivered straight at his head. Meanwhile, Eurydice was able to masterfully guide her Psychic around the battlefield before slamming it directly into Fuwa from below.

"Mustang, Iron Head!" Hearing his Trainer's command, Mustang's outstretched head glowed bright silver, then he quickly tilted it back into Orpheus' direction, sending the Kirlia flying back with the head-on impact.

"Fuwa, Iron Tail!" Despite being sent flying up into the air once again, Fuwa knew how to position herself to go in the direction she wished from prior battle experience, and realigned her body midair, resulting in Eurydice being struck tail-first from the air.

With both their Pokèmon sent reeling back from their opponents' super-effective counters, Kumiko and Reina saw their options were slowly dwindling as Mustang and Fuwa were slowly coming in for the finishing blow.

However, both Orpheus and Eurydice refused to give up despite the odds being ridiculously stacked against them. Their feelings of determination were amplified by the song's powerful melody resonating across the entire arena, giving them newfound strength.

Please don't say "You are lazy"

Datte hontou wa crazy

Nou aru taka wa sou

Mienai toko ni pikku kakusu ndesu

Souzou ni isshou genmeigenjitsu wa zettai zetsumei

Hatten tochuu da shi

Dakara fui ni picchi hazureru ndesu

In sync with each other, Orpheus and Eurydice's bodies were engulfed with a bright blue light, their bodies getting taller as their arms and skirts grew longer. As Kumiko was transfixed at the ensuing evolutions, Reina suddenly remembered something.

"Kumiko, your Dawn Stone!" Reina exclaimed, worried that Kumiko hadn't brought it along with her. "Are you going to use it or not?"

"Right!" Almost forgetting the gift Reina gave her shortly before they challenged the Gym in Edian City, Kumiko dug it out of her bag (why was she still carrying it in the first place?) and threw it towards Orpheus, who managed to catch it even in the midst of evolving. Instantly, his body began to shift again, the skirt disappearing while his arms and legs got thicker.

When the light dissipated, Eurydice had evolved into a Gardevoir, her green hair curling over her face, red horn protruding from her chest, and legs hidden by her lengthened skirt.

On the other hand, Orpheus had evolved into a Gallade, his legs now connected to an elliptical waist, arms extending into sharp blades, and two horns on both his chest and head, colored green and red respectively.

Taking out their Pokèdexes to see if their Pokèmon had learnt any new moves after evolving, Yui and Azusa decided to seize this chance. "Don't get cocky! Even if your Pokèmon have evolved, that doesn't mean you can turn the tide! Mustang, Iron Head!"

"Fuwa, Iron Tail!" Their Pokèmon continuing to advance towards Orpheus and Eurydice, Yui and Azusa were sure that they still had victory in their grasp until they saw Mustang's head being intercepted by a timely Psycho Cut from Orpheus, while Fuwa had been blasted away by a Dazzling Gleam from Eurydice, courtesy of last-minute orders from Kumiko and Reina.

"Mustang, add your Bullet Punches to the mix!" Azusa ordered. His head still caught by Orpheus' extended blade, Mustang thrust out both his arms in a flurry of punches, but Orpheus managed to parry all of them with his other arm, which was also gleaming with the pink light of Psycho Cut.

"Fuwa, don't give up just yet!" Yui pleaded, knowing that her Eevee still had enough strength to continue fighting. "Get back in close with Quick Attack and use Iron Tail again!"

Dashing at top speed towards Eurydice, Fuwa repeatedly avoided bursts of Dazzling Gleams thrown out at her, until she had closed in enough distance for her opponent to take the brunt of her Iron Tail.

However, Reina had anticipated this, and Eurydice successfully blocked the attack with a Psyshock she was charging up just as Fuwa had leapt into the air. Her attack unable to connect with her target, Fuwa was at a loss about what to do next when Eurydice blasted the Psyshock out at her, sending her flying back at high speeds. At the same time, Orpheus managed to beat Mustang back with a dual Psycho Cut.

After seeing their Pokèmon successfully turning the tide through the strength their evolutions gave them, Kumiko and Reina high-fived each other, reinvigorated and ready to fight wholeheartedly again. However, this sudden change of course had not gone unnoticed by Yui and Azusa, who were quietly scheming as their bandmates' music kept blasting.

Yari choi yasetachoushi dzuite kutta

Sore dake de nande?haibokukan

Sukasazu ni mokuhyoukahoushuusei shite

Juunan ni rinkihouhenshichihenge ga kachi

"Azu-nyan, looks like it's time for us to use that!" Yui whispered, though making sure her silent voice did not get drowned out. "They're much stronger than they appear!"

"Are you sure, Yui?" Azusa whispered back. "I know we've been testing that out, and this stadium is the only place you can use yours, but it feels like overkill in an exhibition battle!"

"No it won't!" Yui playfully retorted, rotating her guitar to the front of her body. "It'll all be part of the spectacle! People want things to be bigger, flashier, and more fun! We're giving them what they want! After all, fun things are fun, aren't they?"

"Fine, if you insist." Sighing, Azusa also readied her guitar as Yui reached for Fuwa's Pokèball. Stretching her arm, Yui then recalled Fuwa back in before strumming her guitar with her free fingers. A small object attached to it then glowed a reddish-white, as the Pokèball in her hand was infused with energy flowing from the guitar, growing to the size of a watermelon and becoming a radiant pink.

Grasping the gigantic Pokèball with both her arms, Yui spun around and threw it forwards. In midair, the Pokèball exploded open, revealing a much larger Fuwa with several differences, namely the three red clouds swirling above her left ear and the white fur on her neck growing to ridiculous proportions.

"Gigantamax?" Reina was completely shocked at Yui's trump card. "I thought it was only possible in Galar! How can you even pull that off here in Octiva?"

"There's actually a Power Spot beneath this stadium. That's why the arena was built here in the first place." Azusa explained, somehow managing to hear what Reina just said despite everything going on. "But enough of that! Mustang, Mega Evolve!"

Strumming a chord on her guitar, a Key Stone affixed to it glowed with a bright light as a bracelet on Mustang's right arm shone as well, enveloping him in it. When the brightness dissipated, Mustang's pincer claws had changed shape and color, various additional pieces of grey armor appeared around his body, and his legs had morphed into thick spikes of steel.

"We are now royally, completely, totally screwed." Kumiko uttered without thinking, earning a nod of approval from Reina. "But still, at least we're screwed together, right?"

"Right." Reina affirmed, happy to know that no matter what she went through, there was at least one person who would always stick by her side.

"This is our power!" Yui announced to the ravenous audience, who were cheering at the band's lightning comeback. "Fuwa, G-Max Cuddle!"

With just a small stretch forward, Fuwa effortlessly rammed into Eurydice and began rubbing against her, the massive tufts of fur on Fuwa's neck slowly trapping Eurydice in and ensnaring her, leaving her completely unable to move or attack, much to Reina's despair.

Meanwhile, as Orpheus battled against the now-Mega Evolved Mustang, Kumiko realized that while her opponent's Pokèmon didn't really get a boost in speed, allowing Orpheus to still parry hits coming his way, that was balanced out by Mustang's attacks hitting much harder, each blow striking with more power and driving Orpheus back even further.

Now being on the losing side again, Kumiko and Reina knew that this was the time to finally use Asuka's gift and fight fire with fire. With HTT's music blaring non-stop in their ears, Kumiko and Reina abandoned all their doubts, ready to face the music.

Yaba Masaka Red Point!? Iya giri kuria!

Sore dake de nante zennou kan

Daiji na no wa jibunmitometeku koto

Jibun wo yurusanakyahito mo yurusenai

"Orpheus/Eurydice, Mega Evolve!"

Curling their left arms up in unison, Kumiko and Reina focused themselves for a brief moment before rotating their Z-Power Rings 180 degrees, revealing the Key Stones embedded in them. Pressing down together, what Kumiko and Reina next experienced was unlike anything they had ever felt before.

As a wave of light washed out from her Key Stone and Orpheus' Galladite, Kumiko could somehow feel her soul being linked with Orpheus', getting a glimpse of all that he had experienced with her, from being rescued, to winning Gym Battles together, to evolving twice with his sister in Double Battles. The bonds between Trainer and Pokèmon were finally laid bare, and could begin growing anew again.

Reina had read interviews about what it was like to Mega Evolve a Pokèmon from a Trainer's perspective, but actually getting the chance to do it herself was something completely different altogether. She could feel her own desire to win melding with Eurydice's, and could sense the power in their connection giving Eurydice newfound strength, fulfilling their shared wish.

When all the flashing lights illuminating the battlefield dissipated, Orpheus and Eurydice's appearances had changed for the second time in the same battle. Orpheus' blades had grown longer and turned white, gaining a cape on his waist alongside a pure white torso, while Eurydice's dress had turned into a full-on ballgown, and the red horn in her chest had split into two halves, pure psychic power projected from inside.

"Orpheus, Fire Punch!" Kumiko commanded. Both of his lengthened blades lit up with flames, Orpheus let them loose with one combined swing, the resulting beam of blazes trailing across the battlefield in pillars of fire before striking Mustang together, causing the Scizor to overheat even further.

"Eurydice, Psyshock!" The energy from Mega Evolution had freed Eurydice from the grasp of Fuwa's fur, and Reina was ready to pay back the pain. Focusing a tremendous amount of Psychic energy between her hands, Eurydice then telekinetically shattered it, creating a blizzard of supernatural shards that washed over Fuwa's gigantic body, completely enveloping her.

Though Kumiko and Reina's counterattack had proven successful, Yui and Azusa still had absolutely no intention of throwing in the towel just yet, now that the battle had completely evened out for both sides. From here, it could go both ways, with no means of telling how everything would end.

"Mustang, Razor Wind!" Azusa shouted out. Beating his wings, Mustang created gusts that immediately cooled down his dangerously heated body, before using the thrust generated to propel himself towards Orpheus. Once in range of his opponent, Mustang then delivered slashing kicks with his legs one after the other, forcing Orpheus to defend himself yet again with Psycho Cut.

"Fuwa, G-Max Cuddle!" Nudging forward, Fuwa slammed herself into Eurydice, who managed to erect a barrier in time to prevent herself taking the full brunt of the attack. However, that did not save her from being stuck in Fuwa's fur, but she quickly summoned and controlled Psyshock shards to slowly slash her way out following Reina's orders.

Now able to fight on even terms with Yui and Azusa, Kumiko and Reina were starting to get a feel of just how much their options had broadened with Orpheus and Eurydice's evolution and subsequent Mega Evolutions. Smiling to each other, Kumiko and Reina interlinked their hands without both of them realizing, as they called out their next commands.

"Orpheus, Psycho Cut/Eurydice, Psychic!" Kumiko and Reina ordered in perfect unison. As their Pokèmon began to charge up their most powerful attacks, Yui and Azusa knew they also needed to respond in kind, or else they would be upstaged by their guests.

"Fuwa, G-Max Cuddle/Mustang, Iron Head!" Immediately after Orpheus' attack was ready, he gracefully leapt into the air with both blades outstretched at Fuwa, who proceeded to tuck her body back before getting ready to ram herself into him. Meanwhile, Eurydice blasted out an arc of Psychic energy so large that it managed to envelop her quarter of the battlefield, but Mustang still rushed to meet it directly, head gleaming silver with Steel-type energy.

However, just before any of the four attacks could collide, a gigantic beam rained down from the sky and impacted the center of the battlefield, knocking all four Pokèmon involved backwards.

"What that hell was that?" Kumiko shouted.

"I have completely no idea!" Reina responded, confused as to what was going on. Was this the trap that she had so dreadfully feared?

As the smoke from the attack slowly dissipated, it was soon apparent that Orpheus, Eurydice, Fuwa, and Mustang had been knocked out by the mysterious attack, having reverted back to their base forms. Clearly, whatever that beam could have been wasn't a result of what HTT was planning.

Hurriedly recalling their Pokèmon back into their Pokèballs as their opponents did the same, Kumiko and Reina looked around them to see that the audience was being quickly evacuated from their seats as an announcement was being broadcast on the arena's screens.

"Attention. This is an emergency announcement." an automated voice droned out. "Due to a Legendary Pokèmon engaging in hostile behaviour above the stadium, we regret to inform you that tonight's performance has been abruptly cancelled. Please leave the stadium in an orderly manner and contact your ticketing agent for further enquiries about refunds. We apologize for any inconvenience caused."

"Kumiko, we should leave right now." Reina declared as she sent out Eurydice, giving her a spare Revive to restore some of her strength. "Eurydice should still have enough power to Teleport us out of here."

"Gotcha!" Just as Kumiko was about to grasp on to Reina's hand for the second time tonight, the screens flared up again with a new development.

"We have just received word that a Deoxys was the Legendary Pokèmon responsible for the initial attack, but the Champion has already gone up to confront it. Please remain calm." the voice continued to blandly drone.

Upon hearing the second statement, Reina froze as she tilted her head to look up at the sky. Below the glowing full moon, a familiar crescent shape ascended from the ground, flanked by two reinforcements that she instantly recognized as well. Once the three figures reached a certain point, a cavalcade of multicolored attacks began to paint the night sky, and Reina could see for herself that she had heard the truth from the moves used.

"Taki-sensei?!"

* * *

A/N: At long last, the full crossover with K-ON! is here, and on Pokémon Day to boot! Since this is a momentous chapter, I've got a lot to say, so apologies if this section will be longer than usual.

First of all, I'd like to thank all of you readers for following To Be A Solister. No matter where you joined in on Kumiko and Reina's journey, I hope that you found yourselves satisfied and entertained by the world that our favourite band girls are in. Of course, this story would not exist without the encouragement of BogheadEX and RedlerRed7, who provided me with the initial kick I needed to start writing and many of the ideas about the K-ON! side of the story (including Azusa's Scizor) respectively, so many thanks to you two as well.

When I first started writing this story, the end goal had already been set, but I never would have imagined that this would be the road that Kumiko and Reina would take to get there. Originally, I planned for the story to end at around 50 chapters with 100k words in total, but I've recently finished my rough plan for the rest of the story's events, and it will most likely become the longest Hibike fic by a wide margin, provided I maintain the current amount of words per chapter.

Despite this sounding like a farewell message, I can assure you that it is not. Rather, the preceding 27 chapters you have just read have all been leading up to this moment. With almost all the pieces in play and HTT revealed, the real story of Kumiko and Reina's journey starts now, as they fight HTT, continue their Gym challenge, and realise their love for each other.

It is also here that I announce that To Be A Solister will be on a one week break to allow you readers to process what just happened here, and the next full chapter will be released on March 12th. However, do check back on March 7th for a special surprise! (Hint: involves my favourite character!)

If you haven't done so, please follow me on Twitter ( tekketsu08) for the latest updates for this fic. I am also active on the Hibike! Euphonium subreddit Discord, so please join that if you wish to interact with me. The link is searchable on Google.

On a final note, I am also currently working on a massive KyoAni crossover project that will be released later this year. Stay tuned for more details!


	29. Chapter 29: Otanjyoubi Omedoto, Azusa

_1 day before…_

"So, why have you called us all here today, Miss Tanaka?" Kotoko Himegami asked, the Onic City Gym Leader confused as to why the Elite Four's Grass-type specialist had called all of Octiva's Gym Leaders to the Pokémon League headquarters out of the blue.

"Is it because you wanted to show off something you did again?" Raina Kitamura sighed, the Perto City Gym Leader starting to have flashbacks about the time Tanaka completely wiped the floor against her in a 6-on-1 battle. That had not been a pleasant experience for her.

"I'm sure there's a better reason than this, Miss Kitamura. Please calm down." Hirone Torizuka pleaded, the Edian City Gym Leader not wanting the rift between the Gym Leaders and Elite Four to deepen due to the massive difference in power between them. After all, both parties were under the Pokémon League's umbrella.

"Well, you'd better say it quickly. I've got better things to do with my time than entertain you here." Juri Sawada complained, the Subdomi City Gym Leader wanting to go soak in a hot spring along with her subordinates after a series of particularly tough battles today.

"If it's really that important, then why aren't the Gym Leaders of Minant City and Eigve City here as well?" Hideri Noguchi questioned, the Ubmedi City Gym Leader feeling slightly cheated upon learning that two of his colleagues were allowed to skip this 'mandatory' meeting on short notice.

"They're the Gym Leaders with the most on their plates, so they sort of get a free pass on this sort of stuff." Narai 'Knuckle' Tanabe explained, the Subton City Gym Leader wondering if Noguchi had fallen asleep somewhere in the conversation and missed important details again.

"Alright everyone, please settle down." Haruka Ogasawara clapped her hands together. "Miss Tanaka's about to start, and since none of us know the reason she's suddenly decided to call us here, we all need to listen carefully to what she's going to talk about."

"Haruka's right." Aoi Saitou agreed. "I'm working on an important case together with Miss Tanaka, and not even _I_ know what this is going to be about, so this will certainly be something of great significance."

"Um, you all know that Asu-Miss Tanaka is in the same room as us, right?" Kaori Nakaseko noted. "She can hear what all of you are saying right now, and a lot of it really does reflect poorly on your opinion of her."

"No need to worry about that, Kaori. We all need to air out our greivances sometimes" Asuka Tanaka gave some words of reassurance, causing Kaori to smile. "Now that everyone's got their last complaints out of their systems, let's get down to business. Two words: Azusa Sasaki."

"What?" Everyone in the room was confused as to what Asuka just said. With the conversation being started that abruptly, nobody had any idea where Asuka was planning to take this conversation. Even Kaori was left grasping for straws, despite being the person closest to Asuka in the room.

"Please clarify, Miss Tanaka." Kotoko stated. "Just who or what is Azusa Sasaki, and why are you bringing this up?"

"I was just about to get there, _Miss_ Himegami." Asuka replied, sarcastically stressing the honorific she used. "Simply put, Azusa Sasaki is a light-blue devil in human form, an azure angel sent to grace the Earth from the heavens, a force of nature few people can stand against. And she's my number-one nomination for a Gym Leader position in the future."

"You still haven't told us anything about her yet, Mis-Tanaka." Raina caught herself, not wanting to face Tanaka's wrath once more after her previous devastating encounter. "What makes Miss Sasaki so special in your hard-to-please eyes?"

"Well, she's one of the most powerful Trainers at Rikka, and we all know you need to pass an extremely tough battling exam to get in, so I think that alone justifies it." Asuka explained. "I've even heard rumors that she's almost up to her mentor Sezaki's level."

"No way… Sezaki?" Hirone was breathless at what Asuka just revealed. The Gym Leader of Eigve City, she was one of the two Gym Leaders absent at this meeting and the strongest among them. If Sasaki could match Sezaki, the delicate power balance of the League would tip in the Gym Leaders' favor, something no one wanted ever since the two mass resignations in the last 14 years.

"That's right! Azusa Sasaki is almost as strong as 'the next Elite Four member' herself." Asuka didn't seemed phased about this, even casually referring to the fact that Sezaki was the only Gym Leader who could give all members of the Elite Four trouble in 6-on-6 matches, and sometimes even win in extreme circumstances. Even the other Gym Leaders couldn't hold a candle to her feats of power.

"Can you give some examples of what she's done?" Juri asked, twitching at the memories of her losing battles against Sezaki. "We don't have a complete idea of how strong she is, so we can't just guarantee her a Gym Leader position in the future solely on your whims."

"Well, let's start from the beginning." Everyone in the room could audibly hear a sharp glint coming from Asuka tilting her glasses upwards. "Last year, she defeated a swarm of rabid Scyther during her middle school's summer camp in the dead of night by herself, saving everyone before anyone else noticed. Remember, this was _before_ she started training at Rikka."

"I know that Scyther are some of the strongest Pokémon out there." Hideri seemed dubious at what Asuka claimed about Sasaki. "But is there anything she did recently that gives us a clearer picture? We can't rely on a single incident alone."

"There are three other things that spring to mind." Asuka promptly answered. "Six months ago, she single-handedly led her middle school's Triple Battle team from the brink of defeat to overwhelming victory in the beginners' Little Cup tournament, taking over for her relatively inexperienced team members. I'll hand it over to Knuckle to tell us more about what happened three months ago. Can you fill us in about the Galarian Darmanitan rampages?"

"Every so often, the band of Galarian Darmanitan living on the slopes of the mountain Eigve City is on go crazy for no reason, barging their way inside the city and destroying everything in their way." Knuckle explained. "Sezaki and the Rikka students are usually the ones responsible for subduing and returning them back to the wilds. If the situation gets bad, then I'm sometimes called in since I'm the closest to Eigve."

"The situation was really three months ago." Asuka continued on. "For some reason, the Galarian Darmanitan were using Z-Moves and Dynamaxing despite the lack of a Trainer or Power Spot, which nobody found an explanation for even now. During the fighting, the battle was split into four fronts: one handled by Sezaki, one by the Rikka students, one by Knuckle and the Trainers at his Gym, and… can anyone guess?"

"Let me try, Sasaki?" Haruka asked. "You don't need to hide something so obvious from us."

"Precisely!" Asuka ignored Haruka's lamentation. "In the middle of the fight, Sasaki got separated from the rest of Rikka and was forced to be on her own, which nobody expected she could escape unscathed from. However, during the final tally of Galarian Darmanitan knocked out, Sasaki was found to have accounted for 25% of the total, all without having a single Pokémon faint. That was what put her on the League's watchlist."

"Now that really is impressive." Aoi commended Sasaki's feat of strength. "Though I'm curious at how much Galarian Darmanitan Sezaki managed to defeat by herself, since you say that she's still stronger than Sasaki."

"According to records Rikka sent back to the League, Sezaki was responsible for 30% of the Galarian Darmanitan defeated." Asuka replied. "But, I've saved the best for last. The most impressive thing Sasaki pulled off only happened last month, when she challenged an Articuno residing near Eigve City. And won."

The level of shock currently felt in the room rose to an all time high. Normally, matching a Legendary Pokémon in sheer power was something only someone on par with the Elite Four could reasonably do. To have an ordinary Trainer walk out a battle like that with a victory in hand was almost unheard of.

"So you're saying that Sasaki is almost equal in strength with the Elite Four already?" Kaori had a mixed reaction to this fact. "Then why not recommend her as an Elite Four member directly?"

"Two reasons: Firstly, Sezaki's our prime choice for promotion, so we don't want competition between mentor and mentee for the position. That's bad juju." Asuka answered. "Secondly, Eigve City will certainly need a new Gym Leader when Sezaki inevitably becomes an Elite Four member, and what better choice is there than her adorable kouhai?"

"I get what you're trying to say, but I still can't understand your hyperfixation on Sasaki." Kotoko was starting to suspect Asuka's motives for doing so had more than meets the eye. "Aside from being strong, what is it that endears her to you? You rarely get that excited over a person."

"Hmm, looks like I've left out some details during our conversation." Asuka mused, thinking back to what she said over the past few minutes. "What I'm about to say sounds like a coincidence, but I'm sure it's not since the strong attract the strong. When I was doing some digging about Sasaki, I found out she attended the same middle school as Kumiko Oumae and Reina Kousaka."

"You mean those two girls you gave Mega Stones to?" Raina remembered her battles against the fledgling Trainers well, since they were sandwiched between her own battle with Tanaka. "Is that why you're so interested in them? You believe that since Sasaki knows them, she's ought to be special as well?"

"That's one way of putting it." Asuka seemed content with Raina's theory. "During the Triple Battle tournament I mentioned earlier, Oumae was actually one of Sasaki's teammates. Imagine my surprise when I learnt that little Oumae-chan wasn't always that good at battling! Sasaki must have taught her well!"

"Now that we all know how ungodly strong Sasaki is, what do you want us to do with this information?" Hirone asked. "Though she's currently studying at Rikka, there are currently no Gym Leader or Elite Four positions available for her in the short term, and she wouldn't really fit in as an aide for any Elite Four member. I'd suggest sending her to another region, but…"

"Nothing." Asuka bluntly stated, shocking everyone in the room again. "After everything I've said about her, I know all of you want Sasaki to join the ranks of the League as a Gym Leader or part of the Elite Four. However, I've got a grander goal in mind for her: the wandering ronin outside of the League's control, keeping watch over the region without prying eyes noticing, then striking when they least expect it!"

"Ah, I get it now!" Juri exclaimed, remembering the term from a samurai movie she watched yesterday. "You don't plan to offer Sasaki any sort of recommendation for a League position, so that if something bad happens and we're too tied up to do anything about it, she can act outside of our control and solve it for us, right?"

"Exactly!" Asuka was pleased that someone else was finally on the same wavelength as her. "She's going to be the League's hidden dagger, our secret weapon in times of crisis, an invisible wall shielding us from the incoming waves. Mark my words, when the storm comes, Azusa Sasaki will be the one to save us all!"

* * *

"ACHOO! ACHOO! ACHOO! ACHOO!"

"Azusa-chan, are you OK? You've been sneezing quite a lot for the past few minutes. Have you caught a cold?" Amika Nase asked while slightly panicking, pulling some more tissues out of the gradually empty box.

"Don't worry, Amika. I'm all right." Azusa Sasaki replied, taking the tissues currently in Amika's hand and blowing her nose on them. "I think that something got in my nose back then."

"Thank goodness! You had me worried there!" Amika was relieved, but her expression immediately shifted into one of panic upon looking at the wall-mounted clock. "Oh no! We're going to be late now! Taichi and Shiho are going to get grumpy at us if we don't hurry!"

"Yeah, like they aren't stuck in that mode most of the time." Azusa snarked, though she toned her voice's edginess down in Amika's presence. "I mean, none of us would really mind if Sezaki-senpai was still here, but since she's left the Gym to me while she's dealing with some business, I've got to act the part as a good leader."

"But you are already a good leader, Azusa-chan. You don't need to pretend to be one." Amika blushed upon remembering how Azusa had lovingly coached her on the basics of playing the trombone. "But I'm still confused as to why Sezaki-senpai left you in charge for today. Wouldn't Takagi-senpai be a better choice?"

"Beats me. I don't know either." Azusa had some theories, but she decided to keep them to herself. "But temporarily being in charge isn't what scares me the most. I've still got that 'thing' with Serina after that."

"Oh…" Amika could sense Azusa's mood change, but she didn't know what direction it had taken. "Still, I know you can do it! After all, you're Rikka's one and only Azure Angel!"

"Amika, I like that nickname, but only you call me that." Azusa teased. "Now come on, we've still got to face the world ahead of us. But whatever happens, we'll always keep our smiles on our faces, because…"

Amika chimed in and finished Azusa's sentence along with her. "We love music! We are Rikka!"

* * *

A/N: Happy Birthday to my favourite character in Hibike, Azusa Sasaki! Even though she hasn't appeared much in the show, her similarities to me already made her one of my top characters, since we both have black hair, like the color blue, are some of the best trombonists at our schools, and have a habit of doing crazy things (myself more than Azusa).

However, what truly made her my favourite character was when I started reading the Rikka novels through a Chinese fan translation, and discovered even more about the awesome school that is Rikka, firmly solidifying Azusa as my favourite character in Hibike. Sadly, there are currently no translations or plans by anyone to translate the Rikka novels into English, so there is no way I can fully convey how much I like the Rikka novels without going into spoiler territory (though I do namedrop Rikka characters in this chapter. They'll be introduced later on, so don't worry).

In regards to Azusa in this fic, it may seem weird to most people that Azusa herself only appears very briefly at the end of the chapter, especially since it's her birthday chapter and she's my favourite character. The reason I wrote the chapter this way is because she plays a massive role much later in the story, and revealing too much about her this early on will spoil the surprise, but I do hope that this chapter will hype you up for Azusa's proper debut in the story.

Stay tuned for the badassery Azusa will bring! (in the future)


	30. Chapter 30: Kaiheitai (Marines' Hymn)

_5 minutes ago…_

"Sir, we've received a report that a Pokèmon with an extremely powerful Psychic signature is descending down towards the stadium from space. It appears to be a Deoxys, though we can't get a clear picture yet. What do you suggest we do?"

Noboru Taki looked at Nakaseko's aide, who was currently serving as his replacement assistant. While she was certainly lacking in experience, she more than made up for it with youthful enthusiasm and efficiency.

"Let's wait for a moment and see what happens, Ms. Kabe." Taki responded, hoping that it was just a lone anomaly. "Perhaps it will naturally go away on its own."

Knowing that was the best outcome possible, Tomoe Kabe smiled for a slight moment before the room they were in suddenly shook violently, knocking them off balance as the lights flickered on and off amidst the frenzy.

Consulting the PDA she was holding along with her notes, Tomoe's eyes widened as she realized just what happened. "It appears the Deoxys used an extremely powerful Psychic-type attack directly on the stadium! From what I'm getting, it seems to have been aggravated by something emanating from the stadium, though thankfully no one appears to be hurt!"

Tomoe looked up again after processing the latest information available, only to see Taki's desk completely vacated, the papers placed there wildly fluttering around the room. "Sir?"

"There he goes again." Haruka Ogasawara sighed as she walked in, bearing witness to that moment of chaos. "Always interfering in things he knows we could deal with. What a meddlesome demon."

* * *

Rushing up to the surface from his underground office, Taki prepared the Pokèballs of the three Pokèmon he decided were the most appropriate to combat Deoxys in an aerial battle. While he knew all of them could decisively defeat the Legendary Pokèmon in a straight fight, Taki was also aware that the Deoxys was currently hovering in the sky without moving further, so he had to plan accordingly.

Going up the final flight of stairs, Taki felt the night breeze blowing through his curly hair once he reached the topmost floor. Once upon a time, he would have savoured this refreshing feeling wholeheartedly, but now was no time for appreciating the best things in life. People's lives were at stake here, he reminded himself.

Fully pushing open the already unlocked doors, he could hear the pandemonium coming a short distance away from the stadium's direction as the staff tried to evacuate the frightened crowd present there. As the situation there was already under control, Taki could now fully focus on the task at hand, which he was more suited for.

Sending out his Pokèmon, Taki watched as his Hydreigon, Dragapult, and Salamence appeared by his side, ready to accept their orders from him. Though he could have just used any one of them to engage Deoxys alone, Taki also had to take into account that there was a concert happening at the stadium tonight, so he needed an overwhelming advantage to take down the Legendary Pokèmon as soon as possible.

"Salamence, I'll be riding on your back tonight to coordinate Dragapult and Hydreigon from afar. You'll also provide cover fire for them when necessary." Taki addressed his Pokèmon. "Hydreigon, you'll be the main source of ranged firepower, giving Dragapult a chance to get up close and personal. There's lots of people here today, so we need to end this quickly."

With nods from all three of his Pokèmon (plus Hydreigon's two arm-heads and the two Dreepy tucked into Dragapult's launchers), Taki then climbed onto Salamence's back before taking a deep breath and taking out an Italian White flower hairclip from his pocket, with a Key Stone embedded into its center.

Tapping two fingers on the Key Stone, Taki waited for a short moment as his Salamence Mega Evolved, before patting it on the back as it flapped its crescent-shaped wings and took to the skies, flanked by Dragapult and Hydreigon.

As the ground below them got smaller and smaller, Taki flew closer to the stadium with his Pokèmon until they could clearly see the Deoxys, who was just standing there nonchalantly looking down at the stadium, clearly attracted to something below.

Deoxys took one look at the group and changed into its Speed Forme, disappearing in a flash before reappearing in front of Dragapult and shifting into its Attack Forme. Using Throat Chop, the normally super-effective move simply phased through Dragapult's body, the Dragon and Ghost-type turning intangible for a moment, then solidified again and fired out the two Dreepy it carried towards Deoxys.

As Deoxys dodged the Dreepy, it then found itself parrying a Dragon Claw from Dragapult as the two Dreepy then circled back and slammed into it with Astonish. Meanwhile, Taki's Hydreigon had finished charging up a combination of powerful moves using its three heads, and fired them out simultaneously at the occupied Deoxys, which was directly hit with a Thunderbolt, Ice Beam, and Flamethrower at the same time.

Before Deoxys could shift to its Defense Forme to tank more attacks, another move came in the form of a Hyper Beam from Salamence, which had been converted into a Flying-type moves thanks to its Ability, dealing even more damage. Now significantly weakened, Deoxys saw that it had no choice but to use its strongest move again, and began charging a Psycho Boost as it was continuously bombarded by attacks from all angles.

However, no amount of damage could stop Deoxys from completing its task at hand, and it released its Psycho Boost in the air as it fell down towards the ground exhausted, hoping to take its attackers with it.

Diving down both to catch up with Deoxys and avoid the Psycho Boost, Taki and his Pokèmon let gravity take their toll on them, recalling Dragapult and Hydreigon back into their Pokèballs once they had matched altitude. Once Salamence's Mega Evolution ended, it folded its wings to descend quicker towards the ground and to protect its Trainer.

Seeing that its opponents were beginning to close the distance, Deoxys was about to charge up another Psycho Boost to delay them further before it heard a roar pierce the heavens. Eyes shifting in that direction, Deoxys saw a Rayquaza swoop down from the atmosphere, claws outstretched in its direction.

Once he saw the Legendary Dragon-type Pokèmon as well, Taki ordered his Salamence to slow down as he took one look at Rayquaza, who nodded at him before zooming ahead, grabbed Deoxys in its claws, and ascended back into the skies, all in a split second.

Now that they were close enough to the stadium, Salamence's descent morphed into a pleasant cruise as Taki flew over the area, checking to make sure that no collateral damage had resulted from the battle above, and to make sure everyone present at the concert had been properly evacuated.

Looking down beneath him, Taki then saw that the main stage had not been properly retracted into its original position, and flew down closer to find out why. As he neared the raised platform, several figures standing there came into view, with two people he could recognize before he soared back up again and into the night, wondering about his next course of action.

* * *

There was no mistaking it at this point, Reina thought as she locked eyes with her mentor for a single moment. Though the appearance of both a Deoxys and a Raquayza not long after each other was certainly shocking, nothing came close to the surprise of seeing Taki again after so long for Reina.

Staring at the night sky, she looked longingly at the direction that Taki had flown away in, as if she was wondering whether he might come back. Seeing Reina's sudden lack of action, Kumiko went over to her desired's side, wondering what had silenced her. "What's the matter, Reina? Did you see something up there?"

"Yes. My reason for fighting, and the person I hope to surpass." Reina simply stated. "Legendary Pokèmon are noted for being extremely strong, Deoxys especially so. To see him defeat it without much effort is a feat I need to match someday if I have any hope of facing him in battle."

"You mean the Champion?" Kumiko asked, recalling the announcement made beforehand. "Is that who you want to beat?"

"Precisely. That is my ultimate goal as a Trainer." Reina still continued looking up, though her eyes had occasionally met Kumiko's. "Even by watching his battle against Deoxys, I couldn't help but feel hopelessly outclassed in every regard. Still, I know that one day I'll meet him and win in battle, no matter how long it will take me."

"If that's your goal, then I'll support you all the way." Kumiko tried to assure Reina, though she privately suspected that Reina wasn't telling her something. Just what was her connection to the Champion that made him such an important figure in her life?

"Hey! We're still here, alright? Don't forget about us!" Yui's voice called over from where she was, reminding Kumiko and Reina that they were still on the stage with all five members of HTT. Turning over to look at the lead guitarist, Kumiko and Reina saw that she was carrying two small objects in her right hand before she threw what she was carrying at them. "Catch!"

Flabbergasted at what Yui just did, Kumiko and Reina frantically scrambled to catch the sailing objects, and barely received them in midair with their hands. Upon opening their palms to see what HTT's lead guitarist had just given them, Reina immediately recognized the strange stone with a faint red glow from their previous battle.

"Don't tell me… Wishing Stars?" Reina was left speechless at Yui's gift, and puzzled as to why she would give something so priceless to two people she had just met. "What do you want us to do with them? Aren't they only usable here?"

"After our battle with you two, we thought that you both had the potential to become powerful Trainers, so we decided to give you a little boost, which would be inevitable if you're coming back here to challenge the League." the bassist explained. "These Wishing Stars can also fit onto your Z-Power Rings, so you shouldn't have any problem using them."

"Thank you very much." Reina replied. Though this was an extremely situational item only usable in one location, she still felt the need to look a gift Ponyta in the mouth. It wasn't everyday that people taking an interest in you gave you presents.

"Oh, by the way, we want to talk with you again." the drummer perked up. "Since that entire fiasco with the Legendary Pokèmon interrupted your battle with Yui and Azusa midway, we still haven't gotten the chance to know each other better, especially since you've got talent we can't miss. What do you say to a fancy dinner tomorrow night? Of course, we'll be footing the bill, so don't worry about that."

Compounding with Asuka and Aoi's initial warnings, all these praises and gifts were making Kumiko much more suspicious of HTT's true motives, especially with how Reina was being more guarded than usual. Seeing this as the perfect opportunity to learn why they were constantly being trailed, Kumiko's curiosity overrode her passivity as she seized the moment. "Sure. Just tell us where the restaurant is and we'll be there."

"You won't have to worry about that." the keyboardist responded. "I'll send my Abra to pick you two up tomorrow evening, since it can track you through your Pokèmon's psychic signals."

"Thanks." Reina tersely replied. "We'll make ourselves available during that period of time." Sending Eurydice out again, Reina notified Kumiko before the pair latched on and were Teleported away.

"They certainly are interesting, aren't they." Azusa remarked. "Kind of reminds me of how we were back in high school, don't you think, Yui?"

"Yup, though they're the same age, so no senpai-kouhai stuff going on there." Yui smiled as she thought back to her nostalgic years of secondary education. "Though we didn't realize we were in love until a few years later. Oh well, I guess they've got their stuff down pat quicker than us then. Makes them even more interesting!"

* * *

Teleporting back to the audience stands, Kumiko and Reina then exited the stadium the way they came in, weaving through the maze of stairs and corridors until they finally reached an entrance. Looking around to see where they should go amidst the crowd of evacuated people, Kumiko and Reina were about to head to the nearest Pokèmon Center for the night when they spotted someone waving to them.

"Hey, Kumiko, Kousaka! Over here!" A familiar voice rang through the chatter. Looking in that direction, Kumiko and Reina saw Natsuki waving to them, accompanied by Yuuko, Nozomi, and Mizore.

Going over to the familiar faces in the crowd, what Kumiko didn't expect was being pulled at the ear by Natsuki upon getting close to her. "Oww, what was that for?"

"Really, Kumiko?" Natsuki's face was making weird expressions as she yanked Kumiko further. "I know you got the free tickets after beating us at the tournament, but getting to go on stage and battle with Yui and Azusa! Man, I would have pulled out the big guns if I knew all that was going to happen! What I wouldn't give for that experience!"

"Nat-Natsuki! Quit it!" Kumiko's cries for help were drowned out by Natsuki's nagging. "We didn't even know that they were going to battle us in the first place! It was just as much of a surprise to us as it would be you guys!"

"I know, but seriously? That was one of the most epic battles I've ever seen, and I've seen some awesome battles between powerful Trainers before." Natsuki complimented. "The battle started to get interesting when your Pokèmon evolved, then it got much more exciting when Yui and Azusa Gigantamaxed and Mega Evolved their Pokèmon, THEN all hype broke loose when you two Mega Evolved your Pokèmon! Did you hear the crowd? They were WILD!"

"Uhh, we were too busy battling to care." Kumiko nonchalantly mentioned. "That was actually one of the toughest battles I've ever been in, and I've faced Gyms with a severe type disadvantage. It was only because of our Pokèmon evolving in the nick of time and Asuka's gifts that we managed to even stand a chance."

Natsuki's face shifted again upon hearing Asuka's name. "That Tanaka, huh? Always sticking her fingers where they shouldn't belong. No wonder you got Mega Stones and Key Stones before we did. She must have taken an interest in you two."

"Yes, though I'm quite surprised that she saw something in Kumiko upon meeting her." Reina commented. "I'm still not sure what genuinely attracted Miss Tanaka to Kumiko, but I'm sure that there's more to it aside from what she claims."

"By the way, where are you two staying tonight?" Natsuki changed the subject, knowing that Tanaka's motivations were always unclear. "Us four are staying at a nearby hotel that Mizore's family owns, so why not join us? Mizore's rich, after all, so money won't be an issue."

Kumiko looked over at Mizore, who was currently cradling a Togepi in her arms. Seeing the normally quiet and stoic girl showing such affection was quite jarring, and Kumiko couldn't figure out just what was the cause behind the bizarre scenario.

"Oh, looking at Mizore's newest Pokèmon, are you?" Natsuki remarked. "She got its Egg a few days back from a girl claiming to be her biggest fan. It hatched a day or two later, and Mizore's roped Nozomi into helping her take care of it ever since. They do make nice mothers together, don't they?"

Upon overhearing Natsuki's last statement, Mizore's face immediately turned red as she lost control over her grip, causing her Togepi to almost plummet to the floor until Nozomi caught it almost instantaneously.

"Phew, that was a close call." Nozomi wiped her forehead with her arm as she took over cradling Mizore's Togepi. "What happened there? Did you think about something unpleasant?"

"Well yes, but actually no." Mizore softly spoke, instinctively reaching for her Togepi before she resumed taking care of it. As she was now a mother to a baby Pokèmon, she couldn't afford such careless mistakes like this, especially with Nozomi helping her.

"Now that that's settled, let's get to the hotel." Yuuko piped up, causing Reina to notice that her friend hadn't said a single word until now. "I'm beat after everything that's happened. Need to get some shut eye and process it all. Don't even have any strength left to argue with Natsuki."

"Aww, looks like princess finally can stand me now." Natsuki smirked. "Guess you won't have any chance to defend yourself against my temptations~"

"Eww, no!" Yuuko's face lit up with energy as she realized what she was going to face under Natsuki's hands. "Even if you mind-controlled me, there's no way I'd submit to you! Not in a million years! I'd rather face five Legendary Pokèmon at once than fall under your spells!"

"Oh yeah?" Natsuki seemed to be enjoying this argument with Yuuko. "Then how about that one time where I had you pinned-" Before she could continue any further, Natsuki fell asleep on the spot, leaving Yuuko to send out her Meowstic Heart to telekinetically carry Natsuki.

"Sheesh, don't leave me hanging there." Yuuko muttered beneath her breath before realizing what Natsuki was about to say. "Wait! Please leave it hanging there! I beg you! Don't say any more!" eliciting a laugh from Nozomi.

* * *

After going to the hotel and having their check-ins arranged by Mizore, Kumiko and Reina immediately collapsed on their beds upon entering the room, too exhausted to do anything else. Though the battle with Yui and Azusa had given them an indescribable high, that energy for the rush they felt had to come from somewhere, and they were now paying the price.

Once they woke up the next day, Kumiko and Reina discovered to their horror that it was already noon, and quickly performed a combination of their nightly and morning routines before heading out. They had expected their friends to be more punctual than they were, but it turned out that everyone was that tired from last night.

One free buffet lunch at the hotel later (Kumiko was surprised at how Natsuki managed to pile up so much food on a single plate), there was still some time before Kumiko and Reina were scheduled to meet HTT, so they went along with their seniors to take a look around the area surrounding Ongaku Stadium.

Walking through various shopping arcades and attractions for a few hours, Kumiko realized that there wasn't really anything suited for her here, with most of the shops specializing in battle-related products. Even Reina was having trouble finding what she wanted, either lamenting that everything was too expensive or it was in 'BP', whatever that was. "Fine. Minant City it is then. At least there's always a sale there."

"That's where we're headed next, right?" Kumiko asked, wanting to confirm that with Reina. "If nothing goes wrong tonight?"

"Yes. Is there anything about that city you feel unsettled about? You seem a bit on edge." Reina sensed that her special one was feeling slightly nervous at the prospect of going to Minant City after all this, so she wanted to know just what could make Kumiko feel that way and personally make sure it would be a non-issue.

"...Nothing." Befitting her modest nature, Kumiko didn't really want anyone to know about her connection towards Minant City, lest her normal life be disturbed more than it already was by everything weird happening on her journey across the region.

"Kumiko, I'm always here if you need me." Reina reassured her. "If you don't want to talk about it now, it's fine, but make sure it doesn't grow into a bigger problem, alright? Like I said before, whatever problem one of us faces, we'll face it together."

"Alright. I'll tell you about it once we get there." Once Kumiko's worries were settled by Reina, the pair continued walking down the street together, with Reina managing to buy some TMs, until they heard the familiar noises of a commotion. (How Kumiko knew what a commotion sounded like made her afraid that she was getting into too much of them).

Going in that direction, Kumiko and Reina wandered through several side streets until they came to the source of the sound. At a battlefield built into a small park, there were two Trainers battling, though it seemed less like a fair fight and more like a one-sided stomp based on how the battle was progressing.

With graceful movements, one Trainer's Alolan Ninetales effortlessly dodged the opposing Polteageist's repeated Shadow Balls before striking it with a single Dark Pulse, the raw power from the super-effective move managing to knock out the Polteageist after one hit.

After Polteageist's blonde drill-haired her Pokèmon, the assembled crowd began to erupt into cheers as the Alolan Ninetales' Trainer gazed at the crowd, searching for any possible opponents. "Who wants to have a go next?"

"I would." Kumiko looked beside her, and saw that Reina had answered the Trainer's call to action. "You're Gym Leader Mirai Sezaki from the Rikka Battle Institute in Eigve City, aren't you? The uniform gives it away."

"That's right. I'm surprised that no one recognized me so far. You must be the first person to know who I am." Looking closer, Kumiko saw that the Trainer was a young woman about Asuka's age with auburn eyes framed by dark brown hair. She was wearing an extremely distinctive pale blue dress with a navy-blue trim around the sleeves and thick white lines running down the middle and hem. "Are you a Gym challenger travelling around the region?"

"Yes, I am. I currently have four badges." Reina answered. "I know you're the strongest Gym Leader in Octiva, and the one closest to matching the Elite Four in terms of sheer strength, but I still plan on challenging you here to get a glimpse of what I may face in the future."

"You sound like you've got grand plans for yourself there, thinking that far ahead." Sezaki replied. "Kind of reminds me of an apprentice of mine back at the Institute. You even look quite like her. What's your name?"

"Kousaka, Reina Kousaka." Reina replied.

"All right, Reina. I'll grant you a battle, though it won't be an official Gym match." she continued. "Since you only have four badges and I've got my strongest team here with me, we'll have a three-on-one battle. I'll let you use three Pokèmon against my Alolan Ninetales, and I lose the battle when my Ninetales faints. Is this OK with you?"

"I'd gladly accept any challenge from someone as strong as you. I'm in." Her declaration said with confidence, Reina took her place at the opposite side of the battlefield before sending out her first Pokèmon. "Eurydice, follow my lead!"

While sending out her most versatile Pokèmon first would seem like a strategic blunder to any onlookers, Reina knew how Eurydice's performed against the Gym Leader would decide her tactics for the rest of the battle. Without any hesitation, Reina then curled back her left arm as she Mega Evolved Eurydice.

Once Eurydice finished Mega Evolving, Reina decided to test out one of the moves she taught Eurydice using the TMs she bought. "Mystical Fire!"

While Eurydice was charging up the super-effective move, the Gym Leader decided to make her move as well, using the Hail created by her Ninetales to her advantage. "Blizzard!"

Before Eurydice could finish preparing her attack, the Gym Leader's Ninetales acted first, whipping up a snow-filled wind before directing it towards Eurydice. In desperation, Eurydice blasted her move out at Ninetales, but the Fox Pokèmon effortlessly dodged it as Eurydice was bombarded by its attack in return.

Her battle instincts running at full throttle with no restraint, the Gym Leader opted to use her Ninetales' own super-effective move in the moment, completely forgetting about how strong her opponent was. "Hex!"

Eerie flames surrounded Ninetales before it fired them out at Eurydice, all of them striking her with the utmost precision. Combined with the previous Blizzard, the resulting damage was too much for Eurydice to take, causing her to collapse on the spot.

Recalling Eurydice, Reina started to feel a sense of uneasiness creeping up on her. This was the first time in any battle she had fought in that one of her Pokèmon had been eliminated so quickly, especially one as powerful as Eurydice. Though she had anticipated a tough fight against Sezaki, never had she expected that the difference in their strength was this extreme.

Quickly adjusting her tactics internally in her mind, Reina settled on who she would send out next, opting to take advantage of the weather conditions. "Idina, don't hold back!"

As her starter drifted down to the battlefield, Reina took this chance to move first. "Thunderbolt!"

Two orbs of electricity formed in Idina's hands before she fired lighting bolts out of them, the arcing amperage bending through the air as it hit the Gym Leader's Ninetales directly. However, the Electric-type attack didn't seem to bother Ninetales much, as it quickly shook them off before Sezaki gave her next order. "Dark Pulse!"

A pitch-black sphere formed in front of Ninetales' mouth and grew larger before it was shot out at high speed towards Idina. Using her ability to her advantage, Idina disappeared into the hail, her body being hidden by a mixture of camouflage and phasing.

"Thunderbolt again!" Following her Trainer's orders, another wave of lightning blasted out from Idina's hands, the ricocheting bolts obscuring the location where she was firing them from. Despite not knowing where her opponent's Pokèmon was, Sezaki still had a countermeasure for these sorts of scenarios.

"Dark Pulse, rondo!" Charging another sphere of Dark-type energy, the Gym Leader's Ninetales lowered its head before firing it out, blasting the move at the ground, causing it to ripple in all directions across the battlefield.

The unavoidable attack struck Idina where she was hiding and managed to take her out in one hit, even with its power diluted. As Idina fell to the floor, Reina quickly recalled her. At this point, Reina knew she didn't have a chance of winning, with how quickly Sezaki had taken out her Pokèmon, but she could at least lose with dignity.

"Demi, howl like the swirling storm!" Immediately after sending out her last Pokèmon, Reina was still deciding what to do when Demi ran over to Sezaki's Ninetales, looking at it for a moment before they nuzzled together, surprising both Trainers.

"Wait. Could your Vulpix be…" Sezaki dawned on a realization. "When I first got my Ninetales' Egg several years ago, the caretaker at the Perto City Day Care mentioned that someone had placed an Alolan Ninetales there indefinitely. Was your Vulpix hatched from an Egg there?"

"Yes. Are you suggesting that your Ninetales and my Vulpix could be siblings?" Reina asked. "All things considered, this seems like the most probable possibility."

"Once I get some time, I'll go back to Perto City and ask the Day Care about the circumstances surrounding our Pokèmon." Sezaki stated. "But since I'm very busy right now, I'm afraid that it's going to be quite some time before I can get back to you. Which Gym are you heading to next?"

"My friend and I are planning to go to Minant City next." Reina informed the Gym Leader. "We're planning to travel clockwise around the region starting from Onic City, so we'll most likely be challenging your Gym last."

"That's great to hear. Hopefully I'll be finished with everything I need to do by that time, so I'll tell you everything I managed to find out once you arrive." Sezaki replied. "Until then, I'll declare this battle a draw, so we can have a rematch once you've become stronger."

Rummaging around in her bag, Sezaki took out a light blue stone and gave it to Reina. "This is an Ice Stone. You can use it to make your Vulpix evolve. I've already got quite a few that I don't need, and you seem like the person that will use it well."

"Thank you, Miss Sezaki. I will make sure that your gift is worth your gratitude." Reina responded. "I can assure you that when we meet again, I will be more than a match for you."

"Good to hear. I'm looking forward to that day." Hearing Sezaki's reply, Reina was about to say more when Kumiko noticed that an Abra was observing them from a short distance away. Waving a quick goodbye to Sezaki, Reina soon departed with Kumiko, the pair going off to meet HTT for the second time.

"Kousaka, huh?" Sezaki mused. "I think you mentioned someone you knew by that name once, Azusa. If you spoke of her that highly, then she must be someone special indeed."

* * *

One quick warp later, Kumiko and Reina found themselves at the entrance of a circle-shaped restaurant, which was surrounded on all sides by a floor-to-ceiling aquarium filled with various Water-type Pokèmon. Kumiko and Reina looked around, and quickly recognized a member of HTT waving at them.

"There are more than a few patrons at this restaurant, which means they can't try anything here without making a scene." Reina told Kumiko. "This works in our favour, but we also can't do anything in a hurry if we're threatened. Are you ready to do this?"

"Well, with you by my side, we can do anything together." Kumiko replied, causing a smile to appear on Reina's face. "Though I found out that we're actually underneath Ongaku Stadium after taking a peek at my phone, so we've got the locational advantage.

"Let's go, then." Heading over to the table where the five members of HTT were sitting, Kumiko and Reina made sure to sit together after they arrived. One of the most striking things Kumiko noticed was the sheer amount of food surrounding Yui's seat, with the lead guitarist fervently devouring everything in front of her while an enormous pile of plates were stacked up behind her.

"Yo! Glad you two could make it!" the drummer spoke first. "Though there's no way that you could miss this, given that we have an Abra that can track down your location. Still, good to see you again."

"Ritsu, you've forgotten your manners again." the bassist lamented, softly punching the drummer on her arm. "Aside from Yui and Azusa, none of us have properly introduced ourselves to you. I'm Mio Akiyama, and this lovable idiot here is my fiancè Ritsu Tainaka. Nice to meet you two, Miss Oumae, Miss Kousaka."

After Mio spoke, Kumiko couldn't shake the thought of how much her voice resembled Aoi when the keyboardist piped up. "I also have to apologize for not introducing myself as well last night. For the record, my name's Tsumugi Kotobuki, or Mugi for short."

"Nice to meet you." First it was Akiyama's voice that sounded like Saitou's, now it was Kotobuki's voice sounding like Tanaka's. From Reina's perspective, one pair of voices sounding similar would just be a coincidence, but two pairs matching seemed like there were greater forces at play.

"All right. Now that that's settled, let's get down to business." Ritsu cracked her knuckles. "You two may be wondering why we went to all this trouble to bring you here, and it's for a very simple reason: Meloetta."

"Uh, what Ritsu means is that she wants up-and-coming Trainers such as you two to experience the melody of both music and battling, and winning the Double Battle invitational made us aware of your talent, which we want to support to the best of our ability." Underneath the table, Mio was rapidly kicking Ritsu for spilling too much about their plans. At this point, even uttering their target's name could drastically derail their plans.

"Right, what Mio said." Ritsu quickly recovered from her faux pas. "We want to capture Meloe- the melody of music and battling combined with the bonds between Trainers like you two and amplify it across the region, a Messa di Voce if you will. With this power, we can control the hearts and minds of everyone in the region, giving us 100% adoration and showing the world that the power of Rock shall prevail!"

With the exception of Yui, who was too focused on her food to care about anything else, everyone at the table knew that Ritsu had spoken too much about HTT's plans. Furious at how close her fiancé was to jeopardizing their dreams, Mio did the only thing she could think of in the moment: plant a gigantic kiss on Ritsu's lips.

As Ritsu was shocked by Mio's sudden and uncharacteristic display of affection, Mio tackled Ritsu and pushed her under the table, starting an impromptu make-out session to prevent her from spilling the beans even more. Awkwardly looking at that intense romantic moment did not help matters, so everyone tried to resume normal conversation at the dinner table.

Discussing various topics with Mugi and Azusa (who Kumiko found was completely different from her childhood friend of the same name aside from their work ethic and musical ability) ranging from their musical background to how they met their Pokèmon, the dinner managed to continue without any major events happening, with the occasional gasp of air from Mio or Ritsu and the clanking of Yui changing her eating utensils.

Upon finishing her last plate of food, Yui wiped her mouth as she pushed aside a stack of plates, which were now totalling in the hundreds. Brushing her lips with the napkin she was holding, Yui's eyes widened as she saw who was approaching their table. "Guys! It's the Champion! We better scram now!"

"Sorry for the sudden departure, but we've got security measures we need to obey as part of being VIPs. The bill's already been paid by us before you came in, so no need to worry about that. Until next time!" Sending out her Abra, Mugi bid Kumiko and Reina farewell as all five members of HTT latched on and were Teleported away.

"Huh, that was weird." Kumiko noted. "Why are they so afraid of the Champion?"

"Maybe they're not strong enough to face him, since he has the power to put a stop to their plans?" Reina pondered. Though Tainaka had only dabbled about what HTT was planning to do in broad strokes, Reina had already heard enough to figure out the general direction they were going in, and it was certainly not a good one.

"I certainly do believe that the five of them combined aren't even a match for one member of the Elite Four, so I wouldn't worry about that, Miss Kousaka, Miss Oumae." a new voice chimed in. Turning around to look at who had just spoke, Kumiko and Reina locked eyes with the champion.

"It's been a long time, Taki-sensei."

"Likewise, Miss Kousaka."

"Sensei?" Kumiko was getting confused about what the actual relationship between the two was. "Can somebody please tell me what's going on here?"

* * *

A/N: And now, Taki-sensei makes his proper appearance in the story! While he has appeared twice before (feel free to look back at past chapters to see where the first time was), this is Kumiko's first encounter with the Champion, so obviously she has many questions for him. Why does he know Reina, what relationship do they have, and how did he become the Champion in the first place?

All that and more will be explored next week when Taki-sensei steals the spotlight. Stay tuned!


	31. Chapter 31: Year of the Dragon

_14 years ago…_

"Salamence, Dragon Rush!"

"Hariyama, meet it with an Arm Thrust!"

As the two Pokémon charged at each other, Satomi Niiyama and her close friend Chihiro looked on at Noboru Taki and Masahiro Hashimoto's intense battle, their two friends throwing themselves into the fight wholeheartedly.

While the quartet had only formed a year ago after Satomi had entered college and became friends with the existing trio, the bonds they had forged during their short time together were already unbreakable, with Noboru and Chihiro even striking up a relationship shortly after Satomi became acquainted with them.

A gust of wind whipped up on the battlefield as the inevitable collision happened, sending a massive shock wave outwards when Salamence's head-on blitz was completely stopped in its tracks by Hariyama's two outstretched palms. The deadlock was only broken when Noboru's Salamence managed to force its way past the hands of Masahiro's Hariyama and directly rammed into it.

Sent flying backwards, Hariyama eventually came to a stop and steadied itself, but that was followed by it collapsing to the ground. Recalling his fainted Pokémon, Masahiro went over and squeezed Noboru's hand, before the two embraced each other in a friendly hug.

"Man, that was a close battle there." Masahiro commented. "But no matter how close it comes to the wire, you still find a way to beat me every time. What's our score now? 30 to 0?"

"Actually, it's 31 to 0." Noboru corrected his friend. "Though that one time we were both completely drunk and battling outside in a thunderstorm, so it doesn't really count. Maybe a 30.5 if you're being pedantic."

"Ahh, whatever the case, I really need to find a way to win one of these days." Masahiro lamented. "Maybe I should catch and train up a Crabominable, or teach my Pokémon more super-effective moves? Man, even if I tried all of those ideas, I still think you would come out on top."

"Don't worry, you're still one of the best Trainers I've met." Taki tried his best to console Masahiro. "Remember that time where we fought off that rampaging horde of Galarian Darmanitan? You did most of the heavy lifting there."

"Yeah, but that was because Ice-types are weak to Fighting-types, while Dragon-types are weak to Ice-types." Masahiro replied. "If they were Pokémon of any other type except Fairy, I'm sure you could've easily stopped them all."

"Fair enough." While Noboru still wanted to reassure Masahiro about his competency as a Trainer, he still had his girlfriend to worry about. "I've got a date with Chihiro, so I need to get going. Can't leave her hanging, you know?"

"Uh, I'm right here." Chihiro pointed out. "Besides, don't you have that meeting you needed to attend? Or didn't you reschedule it like you promised me? You said that it was quite important."

"Sorry I didn't tell you earlier, but I did manage to shift it to a later date." Noboru apologized, not wanting to let his girlfriend down. "Come on, let's go. I've already got a reservation for two waiting, so we'd better get a move on."

"Where to?" Chihiro asked as Noboru climbed up on his Salamence, before her eyes widened. "Don't tell me… you actually managed to pull that off? I thought you were only joking when I asked you about it!"

"Well, I know the right people in the right places, so getting that reservation was only a matter of time." Noboru replied, then outstretched his arm. "Care to join me for a night to remember?"

"Gladly." Taking Noboru's hand, Chihiro stepped onto the back of her boyfriend's Salamence as it beat its wings and took off into the sky, leaving Masahiro and Satomi behind quite abruptly.

"They're perfect for each other." Satomi commented. "Though you'd never expect it from how different their instrument and type specialties are, Noboru and Chihiro somehow found a way to blend their clashing styles through how contrasting they were, making them stronger together than on their own. That's the best Dragon and Ice-type Trainers in Octiva for you."

"Now that you put it that way, it makes sense." Masahiro added. "With how well they fit each other, I think they're going to accomplish a lot together no matter what path they choose."

"Well then, let's do our best to not fall behind." Satomi replied. "After all, someone needs to support our friends, right? They may get a lot done on their own, but they're still human, and no person is an island unto of themself. If we can't keep up, then how can we catch them when they fall?"

* * *

_3 years later…_

"Satomi? I can't believe you got called here as well! What a surprise!"

Turning to look at who was calling her, Satomi turned around to see Masahiro along with Noboru and Chihiro. Standing in an underground room beneath the stadium being constructed above, the quartet had somehow been reunited at the Pokémon League headquarters shortly after Satomi had graduated, all of them called here for some reason.

"Oh! Masahiro! And Noboru and Chihiro as well! Didn't really get to see you two after your wedding!" Satomi exclaimed. "It's been quite a while, hasn't it?"

"Well, if three months is a long time for you, then that may count." Chihiro laughed. "But Noboru and I actually have been quite busy. Going on our honeymoon, moving into our new home, those sorts of things. We've been so busy that our Pokémon are starting to get bored!"

"Still, I can't say this enough times, but congratulations on your marriage." Even after everything, Satomi still felt her heart twist a little when she said those words out loud. "May you two spend the rest of your lives together in bliss."

"Aww, there's no need to say it that formally, Satomi." Chihiro smiled. "I know I didn't feel the same way towards you that you did for me, but I'm still happy that you managed to find love after that. By the way, how's your boyfriend? Treating you well?"

"He's actually got some things on his plate right now, so we've kind of drifted apart." There was an undercurrent of slight dejection in Satomi's voice, but she quickly brushed that away. "Don't worry, we're going to get back close as soon as he's finished, and we plan to keep it that way."

"Good to hear! Make sure to treat him well too!" Chihiro gave her friend a pat on the shoulder before they all heard an 'ahem' fill the room. The four friends turned to look at who arrived, and Noboru quickly recognized the newcomer as his father's assistant/advisor, Michie Matsumoto.

"Pardon my sudden interruption, but the co-Champions will see you now." Matsumoto addressed the quartet, then led them to a conference room before opening the door.

Inside the meeting room, Noboru saw his father and his close friend Mr. Kousaka sitting on one end of the long table filling up most of the room. After Matsumoto closed the door and the four friends took their seats, the elder Taki began to speak.

"Since we already know each other, there is no need for any introductions, so let us get straight to the point." Tohru Taki spoke. "The reason I called you four here quite suddenly is due to a grave and impromptu emergency. Three out of the four Elite Four members have abruptly resigned due to various reasons. Even Shindou, the only one who stayed behind initially, had to take an indefinite leave after a tumultuous divorce with his wife."

"So what you're saying is that all four of the Elite Four positions are vacant." Satomi noted. "But how about the Gym Leaders? Aren't some of them close to the Elite Four's strength? Why not promote some of them?"

"That is another problem we have been facing." Kousaka answered. "All of the Gym Leaders have sided with the ex-Elite Four members over the conditions of their resignations, meaning that none of them have accepted the League's offers to step up to the position."

"Which is why we have no other options left." Taki continued. "You four are among the strongest Trainers Octiva has ever seen, which is why we'd like to give you the offer of bypassing the Gym Leader trials and directly becoming members of the Elite Four. As we still have a shortlist of other Trainers we can request to take on the role, please remember that this is not mandatory."

"Since we don't have to become Gym Leaders first, what are the conditions of the fast-track to Elite Four status?" Masahiro asked. "Are there any changes in what we have to do?"

"Not much, and from our continued observations of your performances of Trainers, all of you have fulfilled much of the requirements of becoming members of the Elite Four over your careers." Kousaka answered. "However, there are two challenges that none of you have managed to undertake: finding and battling a Legendary Pokémon which your chosen type specialty is weak against, and doing the same for a second Legendary Pokémon which your type specialty is strong against."

"This offer will remain standing for one year." Taki stated. "If any of you manage to accomplish these two tasks within that timespan, you will become a member of the Elite Four following a series of battles to evaluate your strength and skill against either Mr. Kousaka or myself."

"Thank you very much for your time." With those words, both Taki and Kousaka stood up, bowed, and left the room along with Matsumoto, leaving the four friends alone in there.

"Oh great, now where are we gonna go to find Legendary Pokémon?" Masahiro sighed. "They don't go on trees, you know? They're called Legendary Pokémon for a reason!"

Noboru was about to answer Masahiro with a list of known locations where Legendary Pokémon resided when he heard a knock on the conference room's door. Opening it, he couldn't see anyone there until he looked down and saw a young girl of about three or four years of age.

"Excuse me, have you seen my father?" she asked. Noboru quickly deduced that she must have been Mr. Kousaka's daughter Reina, whose baby shower he remembered going to shortly after he entered college. "My mother said that he should be here, and that I should tell him we're going to be late for our vacation in Sinnoh."

"I'm sorry, but I can't tell you where your father is." Noboru apologetically answered. "He just left with my father a moment ago, so try searching the hallways until you find him."

"Really? My father knows your father?" the younger Kousaka perked up at that comment. "Then are you friends with me?"

"Well, I'd say so." Noboru laughed at Kousaka Jr's bluntness. She did resemble her father in that way, speaking her mind in a straightforward manner without worrying about the consequences. "But you've got to get going now. Your family's trip to Sinnoh isn't going to wait."

"Before I go, can I have your name?" the younger Kousaka asked. "My name's Reina. Reina Kousaka."

"Reina. That's a beautiful name." Noboru noted, before answering the question at hand. "Well then, my name's Taki. Noboru Taki. Nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too, but I need to go now. See you later." Waving goodbye at Noboru, he then also waved at Kousaka before she closed the door and left, off to find her parents. Turning to Chihiro, an idea on what Legendary Pokémon they should face for their challenges started to form in Noboru's mind.

"Dear, what do you say about us taking a trip to Sinnoh?"

* * *

_9 months later…_

Trekking through Turnback Cave, Noboru and Chihiro were starting to lose track of time in the dark underground tunnels. After nearly a year of travelling throughout Sinnoh, Chihiro had already faced a Heatran in Stark Mountain and narrowly lost, while she had eked out a win against a Shaymin living in the Flower Paradise.

Meanwhile, Noboru had challenged an Articuno roaming near the Flower Paradise while Chihiro was battling against Shaymin. While he didn't intend to win that battle owing to natural type disadvantages, the Articuno had somehow walked into more of his traps than he expected, which allowed him to cinch a victory.

Now, he and his wife were trying to navigate the daunting Turnback Cave, home to the Legendary Pokémon Giratina, revered and confirmed as a creation deity in multiple mythologies and scientific papers. While he could have gone to Mount Coronet and faced Dialga or Palkia instead, Noboru felt that Giratina would be a more unorthodox challenge instead, giving him the opportunity to develop his fighting style further.

"When are we going to reach Giratina?" Chihiro asked. "I know that it would be hard to find, but I'd never expected to walk through near-identical caves over and over again. Is there a particular direction we need to go in?"

"Not exactly." Noboru answered. "From what I've read up on, the caves seem to change their location every time a person enters, so no one has been able to chart a path through. However, some recurring caves have been recorded with pillars in them. We can find Giratina if we pass through less than 30 of those pillar caves. Otherwise, we'll need to start all over."

"And how many have we passed through now?" Chihiro was curious at how much more they had to walk before they reached their goal. "Going through all this already eats up so much time. What if we have to do it again?"

"Don't worry. We've only passed through 15 pillar caves so far, so we've still got a while before we need to try again." Noboru reassured his wife. As the couple continued trudging further into the underground network, Noboru heard a low growl coming from the other side of the tunnel they were in.

"That must be it!" he exclaimed, causing him and Chihiro to pick up the pace. As the tunnel widened into another cave, what Noboru saw was indeed the Legendary Pokémon Giratina, its two gigantic spectral wings framing its gray body, which was adorned with red, black, and gold.

Not wasting a single moment, Noboru sent out all of his team to combat the Renegade Pokémon, giving all of them orders without skipping a beat. "Salamence, Dragon Pulse! Hydreigon, Dark Pulse! Dragapult, Dragon Darts! Haxorus, Outrage! Noivern, Draco Meteor! Flygon, Dragon Claw!"

As all his Pokémon began charging up their attacks, Noboru tapped the Key Stone embedded in the side of his glasses, causing his Salamence to undergo Mega Evolution. Once the transformation was finished, Salamence let loose with its powered-up move, followed by the attacks of Noboru's other Pokémon.

While Giratina was certainly caught off guard by the first few attacks, it simply phased through the rest before completely disappearing into the shadows. Looking at all the shaded crevices in the cave's walls to deduce where his opponent would strike from, Noboru was still caught off-guard when Giratina's shadow appeared behind his Dragapult, knocking the Stealth Pokémon back with a powerful blow.

"Dragapult, Lock-On! Everyone else, attack again!" After Dragapult had recovered and flown back closer to where Giratina was, targeting reticles appeared on its eyes as it dedicated itself to pinpointing where Giratina was. As another barrage struck at Giratina, it simply phased and dove back into the shadows again. However, Noboru had shifted his tactics to counter this exploitable move.

"Dragapult, Dragon Darts! Dreepy, Bite!" Still tracking where Giratina was, Noboru's Dragapult fired out the Dreepy in its launchers at the Legendary Pokémon's exact position, directly hitting at where Giratina was hiding.

Once they collided with Giratina, the two Dreepy then bit onto the Legendary Pokémon, causing it to roar out in pain. Seizing this opportunity, Noboru decided to overwhelm Giratina once more. "Attack again!"

As his Pokémon used their most powerful attacks, Noboru was starting to realize that the cave they were in was beginning to get distorted, its walls constantly shifting and the laws of physics getting ignored whenever an attack impacted the environment.

Noboru also noticed that instead of phasing through attacks or disappearing, Giratina was taking them head-on, as if it was saving its energy for something else. Slowly, he could see that Giratina's form was shifting, its legs being tucked back into its body as its wings morphed from two large ones to six thinner tendrils.

"Look out! Giratina's shifting back into its Origin Forme!" Noboru warned his Pokémon as they withdrew back to his side. As soon as Giratina's transformation was finished, it then fired out multiple Dark Pulses at Noboru's Pokémon from its wings, though all of them managed to dodge.

"It's not long until Giratina needs to retreat!" Noboru informed his Pokémon. "Everyone, keep it distracted! Hydreigon, let's use that combo we've been practicing! Railgun!"

As most of Noboru's Pokémon leapt back into the fray to buy time for their teammate, Hydreigon began using its two arm-heads to create weak trails of Thunderbolts towards Giratina's direction, while its central head began charging up a Flash Cannon parallel towards the Thunderbolts.

"Fire!" Right when Giratina was preoccupied with fending off the two Dreepy, Noboru's Hydreigon powered up its Thunderbolts, following up by launching the Flash Cannon from its mouth. The spherical Steel-type attack was accelerated by the magnetic field generated by the parallel Thunderbolts, causing it to travel at much greater speeds than usual.

The strengthened Flash Cannon hit Giratina directly in the abdomen, knocking it back for the first time in the entire battle. Howling in pain, the distortions around the room seemed to retract back into Giratina as it completely enveloped itself in shadows, completely disappearing a moment later.

"Well, unless Giratina suddenly appears again after sustaining that much damage, that should be it." Noboru told his Pokémon and Chihiro, who had been recording the entire battle. "We've finally defeated Giratina. Let's not waste time and find a way out of here."

* * *

And so, Noboru and Chihiro Taki fulfilled their requirements to become part of the Elite Four, joining their friends Masahiro Hashimoto and Satomi Niiyama as the new generation of Octiva's top Trainers after their return from Sinnoh.

For five years, the four friends stood at the summit of what every aspiring Trainer was striving to achieve, lending their support to rising stars and protecting the region from threats within and without, all under the watchful eyes of the co-Champions.

However, all that changed one fateful day when Chihiro contracted an illness abruptly, throwing the power dynamics of the Pokémon League off-guard. Though the Elite Four regarded each other as equals in the field, there was a silent mutual agreement that Chihiro served as the glue holding the group together, helping them weather through many crises that could have split them like their predecessors.

Despite fighting against her sudden illness valiantly and Noboru's best efforts to find treatment for her, Chihiro passed away a little over a year after she contracted the unknown disease. With his main pillar of support gone, Noboru couldn't hold himself together, completely disappearing after Chihiro's funeral despite Masahiro and Satomi's best efforts to console his grief while bearing their own.

Noboru had not given anyone a single clue as to where he went, with all his Pokémon even being left behind along with Chihiro's at the Perto City Day Care. Worried about their friend, Masahiro and Satomi took indefinite leaves of absence from the Elite Four to search for him across the world, only coming back to Octiva again to face challengers, with the elder Taki and Kousaka pulling double duty as members of both the Elite Four and co-Champions.

Just like that, the Pokémon League of Octiva had entered its second dark age in 10 years.

* * *

_4 years and 9 months later…_

"Are you sure this is where we could find him, Masahiro?" Satomi asked.

"Beats me. We've been chasing enough dead ends for almost half a decade already." Masahiro lamented. "Though I swear that he was back in Octiva for several days a few months ago, considering how Kousaka mentioned that his daughter appears to have had a conversation with him."

"Even if we wanted to, we couldn't approach him then considering we were halfway across the world in Unova during that time." Satomi replied. "And we didn't have a reason for convincing him to come back to Octiva for good, when we now do."

"Right. About that reason…" Masahiro pondered. "Do you think he'll accept it? I mean, it's from his dad, and you know the relationship those two have with each other. Would he really want to do that? Accept such a prestigious offer?"

"Well, there's only one way to find out." Satomi declared. Following a lead from Matsumoto, who had vacationed in the area some time before, the two were now in Dendemille Town, Kalos, where Noboru was rumored to have been sighted.

Walking around the stairway-filled town, Masahiro and Satomi found themselves getting exhausted rather quickly, so they went to a nearby café that Matsumoto recommended to rest and plan out where to search next. Upon entering, they heard a familiar voice ring through their ears. "Masahiro, Satomi, it's been a long time. I've been expecting you."

Turning around to face the café's in-built outdoors terrace, Masahiro and Satomi saw their old friend Noboru sitting at a table along with a young college-aged woman with light brown hair.

"Noboru!" Masahiro exclaimed, then his face shifted to one of confusion upon realizing who his long-lost friend was sitting with. "And who might this lovely young lady be? Don't tell me-"

"She's not who you think she is, Masahiro." Noboru sighed. "This is Mamiko Oumae, an acquaintance of mine who I met here under conditions not in my favour. She's from Octiva as well, and she currently works at Friseur Furfrou in Lumiose City as a Pokémon stylist."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Hashimoto, Ms. Niiyama." Oumae began. "Taki-sensei has told me a lot about you two during his time here, though he forgot to mention that those 'conditions not in his favour' when we first met means that I found him blackout drunk at night in a Lumiose City alleyway crying his lights out."

"Your lack of tact hurts, Ms. Oumae." Noboru rubbed his side in mock pain. "But what she said is correct on every level. After I recovered from my unfortunate circumstances, she constantly kept in touch with me until she confirmed that I wouldn't get into that sort of situation again, and she still checks up on me from time to time. That's how I was able to arrange this meeting today."

"But that still doesn't explain how you knew that we would be here at this exact moment." Satomi thought. "Either you have a Psychic-type Pokémon with you or you have extreme planning skills, both of which don't fit you."

"I met with Matsumoto during her vacation here." Noboru answered. "It was still an extreme coincidence that we managed to encounter each other, but she filled me in on what I missed during my time away. I also gave Matsumoto the address of this café in case someone needed to meet me urgently."

"A few days back, she told me that you two would be coming here with a request, so I've been waiting here for the past few days for you to arrive." Noboru continued. "Miss Oumae also decided to join me during this time period, as these are not her peak hours."

"I use my Wigglytuff to Teleport between here and Lumiose City." Oumae added. "Saves me a lot of time and travel fees, though I needed to have a special TM imported from Kanto. That cost a lot."

"But enough about us." Noboru changed the topic. "I'm intrigued as to why Matsumoto decided to let slip my location to you two. She's not the sort of person to do this so casually, so I suspect that whatever request you two have is extremely important."

"...We'd like you to take on the role of Champion." Masahiro quickly spoke before his nerves took over.

"...I see." Noboru noted. "But what about my father and Mr. Kousaka? Surely they are more than competent enough to continue in their current duties. Or maybe one of you two could do it. I have complete faith in your abilities."

"That's the problem." Satomi commented. "Mr. Kousaka retired from his position a year ago back to focus on his musical career and family, while your father started to grow tired of his role after so many years of performing it, so he is also on indefinite hiatus."

"We also partially retired from the Elite Four more than a year ago to not only search for you, but to focus on our musical careers as well." Masahiro explained, eliciting a reaction of shock on Noboru's face. "Thankfully, we managed to find three high-potential Trainers undergoing Gym Leader trials during that time period and asked if they would like to be part of the Elite Four."

"All three of them accepted, and passed their modified challenges with flying colors. A fourth Trainer is currently being inducted through special circumstances, which involved saving an entire region." Masahiro continued on. "They really are a special bunch, considering all the impossible feats they pulled off. You'd certainly be impressed with what they've done."

"Now all that's left is for someone capable to lead them." Satomi concluded. "As everything was arranged in less than a year, it's a complete mess back in Octiva. Remember our college days? You were the most organized out of all four of us. Besides, isn't this what Chihiro would want? She'd hate to see you moping around like this with no direction."

At the mention of his deceased wife's name, Noboru immediately stood up. "Forgive me, but may I have some time for myself to consider this further? This is a heavy decision, and I don't want to take this lightly at all."

After Noboru abruptly departed the table they were sitting at, Oumae smiled. "He'll be back. I'm sure of it."

"How do you know, Miss Oumae?" Satomi was reticent. "Don't tell me it's because you know him better than us."

"As he once said to me, any Trainer worth their salt can't turn down an offer as lucrative as this." Oumae replied. "Besides, I bet he's itching to have a good challenge after so long. Who wouldn't?"

* * *

_Half a month later…_

"Leavanny, Leaf Blade!"

"Ferrothorn, Leech Seed!"

"Golisopod, Liquidation!"

"Banette, Phantom Force!"

"Marowak, Flare Blitz! Spiritomb, Shadow Ball!"

As Aoi Saitou's Mega Banette surfaced from the shadows, it was quickly intercepted by Noboru's Alolan Marowak, wreathed in flames. However, those were quickly extinguished by Haruka Ogasawara's Golisopod slamming its water-drenched claws down.

Nearby, Noboru's Spiritomb was on the receiving end of a Leech Seed from Kaori Nakaseko's Ferrothorn, and its Shadow Ball had just been cleaved in two by Asuka Tanaka's Leavanny, which then landed a clean cleave on it. Combined with the strength being drained away by Leech Seed, Spiritomb disappeared back into its Odd Keystone, followed by Marowak collapsing to the floor in exhaustion.

"All right, that's enough." Noboru told the Elite Four. After getting back and meeting his successors, he had been continually training them for the past couple of weeks, judging and evaluating their strengths and weaknesses. This proved to be a more complicated endeavour than he thought, as he had been out of practice for nearly five years, and was using the Pokémon who joined him on his journey.

Though he still had the option to use his regular Pokémon or Chihiro's Pokémon, Noboru declined to do so until after these training regimens were over. He had heard they were well from the Day Care caretakers, and had even produced a lot of Eggs, but he couldn't bear to see them after they were left all alone for nearly five years.

For the Elite Four, these four-versus-two matches had proven to be some of the most challenging they had ever faced, even with the numerical advantage on their side. Though they often managed to win, it was still by a ever-shortening margin they managed to do so, despite their opponent's numerous handicaps.

"Ms. Nakaseko, I've noticed that you've used very few attacking moves across all our battles. It may be an effective strategy, but any good defense still requires a good offense to reinforce it." Noboru began to comment. "Ms. Tanaka, you've got the opposite problem. You're attacking quite a lot, but it seems that you're doing so without anything to back it up. Someone skilled enough can still see through your weaknesses."

"Ms. Ogasawara, your attacks do have power in them, but you seem to be hesitating when executing them. If you want to take effective command of the battlefield, you need to be more assertive." Noboru continued. "Ms. Saitou, though you're on par with everyone else, you seemed to have the least presence in the battle, which could lead to you not being as engaged."

"I understand." all Elite Four members replied. After Noboru dismissed them from today's practice session, Masahiro and Satomi approached him, along with the elder Taki.

"Wow, I can't believe that you haven't gotten rusty at all during the past five years." Masahiro praised his old friend. "In fact, I'd say that your style seems to have changed a lot. It's now more wild, but it doesn't stray from your normal methodical nature at all."

"Is it really?" Noboru replied. "I was going under the assumption that my skills had dulled somewhat from the time I was away, so I was actually fighting with my full strength against the Elite Four. They're quite powerful indeed."

"Either way, it feels like everything is finally back in place after everything we've been through." Satomi commented. "No matter how much we've distanced ourselves from our problems, we've all come back here one way or another."

"You've grown into a fine Trainer, Noboru." his father commended. "Despite our… differences in the past, I have the utmost confidence that you will be a splendid Champion indeed."

The elder Taki took out a Pokéball and gave it to his son, who seemed puzzled at his father's present. "Being a Champion requires you to have mastery over Pokémon of different types. I know that you will be using Alolan Marowak, Spiritomb, and three of your regular Dragon-type Pokémon in your duties, but I think that Chihiro would not want you to feel alone, so I decided to give you one of the Pokémon she helped raise in her role."

Opening the Pokéball, Noboru was surprised to see the Pokémon inside. "This is…"

* * *

After Taki quickly introduced himself as a friend of Reina's family and her mentor back when she was in middle school, Kumiko now had a much clearer idea of why Reina held the Champion in such high regard personally. Being the person who taught Reina the basics of battle and gave her a goal to strive towards would both score high in Reina's book, Kumiko thought.

"So how much do you know about HTT, sensei?" Reina asked. "Are they really not a threat like you said?"

"Well, all of them are weaker than the Elite Four in terms of battling strength, so there's that." Taki explained. "However, there are many factors outside of Pokémon battling that need to be considered, so we cannot rule them out yet."

"I see," Reina noted. "Though I do have one more question for you. It's a short one, given how busy you must be, but how did you know my friend's name?"

"I once met her and gave her directions in Onic City, when she was searching for the Gym there with two other acquaintances." Taki answered, causing Kumiko to recall that strange encounter. "However, I was friends with her elder sister before that, so I already had an image of her even prior to our unexpected first meeting."

"Wait, what?!" Kumiko exclaimed, shocked at the hidden connection she had with the Champion. "You met my sister? When did this happen?"

"Well, I guess she'll tell you that story if you ask her the next time you two meet." Taki shied away from the topic. "Which should be quite soon, given the path you're traversing across the region. It's not a tale I would tell you personally."

Realizing what Taki was hinting at, Kumiko clammed up as Reina and Taki bid farewell to each other, and the Champion returned to where his friends were waiting. However, just before the trio left, Kumiko suddenly recognized one of them from all the way back to the start of her journey.

"Miss Niiyama!" Approaching Niiyama, Kumiko was even more surprised at how the woman who helped her choose her first Pokémon was somehow friends with the Champion. At the same time, it was now Reina's turn to be rendered completely inert, her brain being jammed at the sight of her sensei being with another woman. Only she had the right to learn from him.

"Oh, Miss Oumae. It's quite unexpected to see you here." Niiyama was also caught off-guard by this reunion. While she and her friends had agreed to meet at this restaurant once Deoxys had been defeated, nothing could prepare her for seeing this young Trainer again, especially during this point in her journey.

Thinking about what she could discuss with Niiyama now that an opportunity had presented itself, Kumiko racked her mind before coming up with something that had been bugging her, and she did not like Bugs. "Um, may I ask where the Professor was when I got my starter Pokémon?"

At the laboratory in Relude Town, it had been Niiyama supervising the day when Kumiko had first met Marcato. Even at this point in her journey, Kumiko still couldn't figure out why Niiyama was the only person in the lab that day, without even a message from the Professor explaining the absence.

As her friends were still in the vicinity, Niiyama decided to address Kumiko in a hushed voice. "The truth is, Taki's wife had the position of Relude Town's Professor along with her role as an Elite Four member. She was extremely enthusiastic in her role, creating the modern system of accepting rejected Day Care Eggs single-handedly and raising many of the initial Pokémon that hatched herself."

"Had?" Kumiko was curious. Did something happen to Taki's wife?

Niiyama's face doured at the memory of her friend's passing. "Unfortunately, she left this world five years ago, so Relude Town has been without a Professor for that period of time."

After hearing the cruel and twisted truth, Kumiko didn't know how to process it.

* * *

A/N: As of writing this author's note, the world is currently in unprecedented times, so please observe proper hygiene and stay safe alongside the people you care about.


	32. Chapter 32: Honey Bun

Finding out the Professor she was supposed to meet on her first day as a Trainer passed away half a decade before left Kumiko stunned. Then who was keeping the lab running?

"Ever since Taki's wife left this world, caretakers occasionally go to the lab and maintain the facilities to make sure it's still habitable for the Pokémon living there." Niiyama explained. "When a Trainer like you needs a starter Pokémon, either myself or Hashimoto over there goes to the lab and assists them in their decision."

"Oh…" Kumiko's voice trailed off. Despite living near it for most of her life, Kumiko had no idea that the lab was actually so desolate. When she was younger, Kumiko always wondered what was going on inside, but her older self had no idea how to reconcile her past imaginings with the presented truth.

"Well, I hope you understand our current situation better." Niiyama concluded. "Unfortunately, my friends are waiting for me, so I'm afraid that I'll have to cut short our engaging conversation right here. Until next time." Saying a farewell to Niiyama, Kumiko then went back to the table Reina and her were sitting at, while Niiyama left with Taki and Hashimoto.

"Who were you talking with?" Reina asked. From what she could see, Kumiko was apparently familiar with the woman close to Taki for some reason. In any war, information was key to victory, and Reina needed to win this battle against her unknown opponent. This was the perfect opportunity to get more information about who she would be facing off against.

"The woman I was talking with is Satomi Niiyama." Kumiko answered. "She's a friend of the Professor, and she helped me make my decision to choose Marcato at the lab. According to my mom, she's quite a well-known flautist and Trainer too, though I had no idea that she was also a friend of the Champion."

"I see." Reina noted. From what Kumiko said, there was clearly no sign of Niiyama being closer to Taki than what was immediately obvious. However, she still needed to keep tabs on her. For personal purposes, of course. "Then there's nothing to worry about."

"Well, about that…" Kumiko looked at the mountain of plates that HTT had left behind in their wake, then remembered what Mugi said to them previously about the bill being paid. "Forget what I just said. Let's call it a night and leave."

* * *

Returning to the hotel that Mizore's family owned, Kumiko and Reina crashed onto their beds again after yet another eventful day. Thankfully, they woke up at a more socially acceptable time the next day, and were about to leave the hotel after eating a hearty breakfast when Kumiko remembered something.

"Say, where are Natsuki and the others?" Kumiko wondered as she looked around the hotel's lobby. "Have you seen them anywhere?"

"I haven't seen any of them since we parted ways after leaving the hotel yesterday." Reina informed Kumiko. "Maybe they left before us? Or they're currently still asleep at the moment."

"Well, let's get going now." Kumiko offered, seeing that there was no point in searching for their friends any further. "After all, we could always contact them later on. I've got Natsuki's phone number saved. Do you have Yuuko's?"

"...Actually, I haven't." Reina candidly admitted. As social skills weren't one of her strong suits, it had never occured to Reina that she never asked for Yuuko's phone number in the first place. "Though I could always get it from her when we cross paths again. Other than that, we're ready to go."

Leaving the hotel, Kumiko and Reina almost didn't remember where their next destination was when Reina recalled that they were supposed to be heading towards Minant City to challenge their next Gym. Sending out Eurydice, Reina instructed her to Teleport back to Subdomi City before holding on along with Kumiko as they were warped away.

Back at their last destination before their detour to Ongaku Stadium, Kumiko and Reina set out on the path towards Minant City, nervous about what they were going to face next, though Kumiko was the one bearing the brunt of emotions. Along the route they were walking, nothing interesting happened save for a few encounters with wild Pokémon until Kumiko noticed a sign.

"Looks like there's a beach only several hundred meters from here." Kumiko pointed out. While she wasn't normally that much of a beachhead, any excuse to keep her distance away from Minant City was a good excuse in her book. "Do you want to stop there for the day?"

"I'm more of a winter person myself." Reina answered, but she then did a verbal backtrack after seeing a look of dejection begin to form on Kumiko's face. "...Though I do enjoy going to the beach sometimes. We aren't in a hurry or anything, so I have no objections to your suggestion."

Taking the detour towards the beach, Kumiko and Reina were already staring at the pristine blue sea in front of them after only a few minutes of walking. However, they quickly realized they had failed to deal with the most obvious problem facing them in the first place.

"...We don't have any swimsuits with us, do we?" Kumiko asked, the sea breeze whistling lightly in her ears. "Guess I really did make that decision without thinking ahead, huh?"

"Don't worry about that too much." Reina consoled Kumiko. "At a beach, there's usually a shop that sells recreational gear such as swimsuits and surfboards, so we could search for one here. If not, then we could Teleport back to all the places we've visited before and find a shop there."

"Sounds like a good idea to me!" Kumiko replied, relieved to know that they could still spend a day at the beach together. At this point, her distaste of visiting Minant City had been replaced by the ecstatic and strangely overpowering emotion resulting from having an opportunity to get closer with Reina.

Walking along the boardwalk, Kumiko and Reina kept their eyes peeled for any sign of a shop that sold what they needed. After a while of combing the beach, the pair finally found what they were looking for in a rather-nice looking beachwear shop.

Inside, there was a wide assortment of swimsuits ranging from the bland to the outlandish and the conservative to the risqué. Brushing past some of the more revealing swimsuits, Kumiko and Reina were searching all over the store for something that they liked, while keeping in mind how much the other person would appreciate it.

Of course, this did not stop them from fantasizing about each other in some of the choices that exhibited more skin than was necessary. Though Kumiko and Reina were regularly sleeping in the same bed by this point (without either of them noticing that it had become a habit), their personal desires still left a lot more to be fulfilled.

"Kumiko, how do you think this looks on me?" Reina asked, holding up a sea-blue two-piece swimsuit with baby-blue trim and white polka dots. "Would I look too big in certain areas wearing this?"

Kumiko immediately pulled up a mental image of Reina wearing that swimsuit, and quickly concluded that no matter what swimsuit she wore, Reina would look extremely stunning in her choice of bathing suit. Even the more modest choices would still provide excellent opportunities to show off her ample curves, much to Kumiko's inner delight.

"It would look great on you!" Kumiko replied, keeping her personal remarks to herself. "By the way, could you rate this swimsuit for me? I really like this design." The swimsuit that Kumiko was holding up was a pinkish-red two-piece with a bow on the section covering her chest, reminding her of a school uniform she once saw.

Thinking about her special one wearing that swimsuit was too much for Reina to handle, and she soon drifted off into the world of daydreams. The design could allow Reina unrestricted access to observe Kumiko's long legs and slender physique that she could only dream of having. Curse her genes for not allowing her to grow taller.

Sadly, the pleasant imaginings came to an abrupt end when Kumiko lightly tapped her on the shoulder. "Uh, Earth to Reina? Are you there?"

"Yes, I'm still here. I just got a bit distracted by the swimsuit's design there." Reina admitted in a half-truth. "It would look excellent on you. Now, let's get them purchased. After all, the beach isn't going to wait for anyone."

Approaching the counter, the two girls were about to shell out their money when Kumiko noticed a pair of matching swimsuits hanging on a rack. The two swimsuits were two-pieces with floral patterns, though one was white and yellow while the other was black and blue.

"Reina, how would you like those swimsuits instead?" Kumiko asked. "Since they're a matching pair, wouldn't we look good in them together?"

Glancing at the swimsuit in her hand and the two hanging on the rack, Reina's decision had already been made when she sensed the opportunity to get closer to Kumiko. "That's a good idea. Which one do you want? I'm more partial to the black and blue design myself, though both of them are OK with me given their similar designs."

"Well, I personally like the white and yellow design, so thankfully we can both go with our first choices." Kumiko replied, happy that both her and Reina were satisfied with the outcome. After paying for their swimsuits, the pair then went to a public changing room that Reina had spotted previously to change into their beachwear.

Inside the changing room, Kumiko and Reina averted their gaze from one another, not wanting to be tempted by their lust to perform acts of indecency on each other, quickly changing into their swimsuits and stuffing their clothes into their bags before exiting from opposite doorways.

Once they were both out of the changing room, Kumiko and Reina finally got to see how the other looked in their swimsuits. Having waited a long time for this moment, Kumiko saw that Reina's bathing suit hugged her bosom tightly, causing Kumiko to feel that her own swimsuit was a bit loose in the same area. This was also the first time that Kumiko had seen Reina in a ponytail, which suited her better than expected.

Meanwhile, Reina was silently gawking in awe at how statuesque Kumiko's body was. While she had previously thought about grazing her hands over her special one's lengthy thighs, seeing them in the flesh provoked emotions in Reina that she only felt when Kumiko was with her, though they were much more intense this time around.

"How… how do I look?" Reina sheepishly asked, folding her arms behind her back nervously as she waited for Kumiko's comments. From Kumiko's perspective, Reina looked positively stunning in her current pose and attire, and any attempt to say otherwise couldn't seem to come to mind.

"You're… you're beautiful, Reina." Kumiko spoke without missing a beat, though she did immediately blush after realizing what she just said. Hearing those words come out of Kumiko's mouth, Reina's face also quickly turned a bright red as she realized that her desired was actually complimenting her on her physical features.

After a short while of recuperating from such a wonderful thought, Reina couldn't help but voice out her own opinion on how Kumiko's swimsuit looked on her. "I think that you look quite nice too, Kumiko."

Her current feelings of longing towards Reina rapidly intensifying after her reply, Kumiko didn't really know how to react in this sort of situation, so she went with the most simple answer. "Thanks."

Reina smiled at her special one's feelings of gratitude. "Well, with our swimsuit comparisons over, let's go have a fun day at the beach, shall we? Isn't that what we came here for in the first place."

Still too busy trying and failing to keep herself from staring at Reina's pair of gratuitous assets, Kumiko could only nod with a short "Mm." as she followed Reina down to the seaside.

Walking along the seaside with Reina, Kumiko could feel her bare feet shifting around in the warm sands as they searched for a spot to settle down. Even with the beach being quite crowded today, the two girls still managed to find a secluded area close to a large tree to place their belongings while also providing some shade.

Once that was settled, Kumiko and Reina sent out their Pokémon, who gasped in amazement as they took in the sights and sounds of the beach. For all of them, this was their first time at such an exotic locale.

"All right, you guys and girls!" Kumiko announced. "We've decided to stop at the beach for today, so feel free to enjoy yourselves! We don't want any of you drowning, since none of you are Water-types, so ask Reina or myself before going to play in the sea!"

As their friends scattered, Idina and Demi immediately retreated to the shaded area under the large tree. Being Ice-types, their bodies couldn't handle heat that well, but they were still able to have some fun as Idina scooped up some sand into the air as Demi tried to playfully dodge the incoming 'attacks'.

Using her immense Psychic strength, Eurydice levitated large tracts of sand into the air before Orpheus leapt up and cut them into intricate shapes, forming detailed sandcastles in the sky. Dipping them in the water to consolidate the sand, Eurydice then put them back onto the beach, resulting in an impressive construction that would have taken hours if not days to make normally.

Being a cactus, Marcato was just content to sunbathe by standing still in the sand, emulating the behaviours of his non-sentient relatives. However, he immediately sprang into action as he saw Sparkle about to casually enter the sea, jumping and landing in front of her to warn her about the dangers of electricity coursing through water, leaving Sparkle slightly dejected.

Following her starter's example, Kumiko also laid down in a sunny spot and began to let the rays of sunshine wash over her skin, with Reina joining in a while later. As the pair started to grow too comfortable in the sand, they started to hear cheers of excitement coming from the sea's direction.

Opening her eyes to see what the commotion was about, Kumiko stood up and went closer, where she saw a small crowd of people surrounding the shoreline watching a big wave pass by. Kumiko almost didn't get what was going on until she saw several figures riding on the wave.

A Sharpedo was chasing a young woman riding on a Kingdra like it was a jet ski, who was also clutching a Feebas under her left arm. As the Sharpedo neared the woman and her Kingdra, she did a 180-degree turn on the spot before her Kingdra fired out a single Signal Beam, causing the Sharpedo to be knocked back into the ocean.

Gracefully navigating across the wave, the woman and her Kingdra then slowed down before coming to a stop once they were off the wave. Leaping off her Pokémon, the woman was then greeted by rounds of applause from everyone who just witnessed the daring chase.

However, instead of basking in the glory of her deed, the woman opted to retreat instead, hopping back on her Kingdra before venturing further out into the sea to safely return the Feebas to its natural habitat.

"Judging by her appearance and Pokémon, that must be Haruka Ogasawara, the Water-type specialist of the Elite Four." Reina noted, having arrived by Kumiko's side shortly after to see what all the fuss was about. "I wonder what she's doing here? From what it looks like, rescuing that Feebas from the Sharpedo wasn't what she's here to do. There must be something big about to happen here."

"If something's going to happen, then shouldn't we leave the beach?" Kumiko asked. Though she didn't want to arrive at Minant City for as long as possible, she also didn't want to get caught in the thick of things again so soon.

"Well, if you want, we can stay here and observe what she's going to do." Reina noted that her special one was clearly being distressed at going to Minant City earlier than expected. "Besides, with such a powerful Trainer here, we shouldn't be in much danger."

Looking over to where their Pokémon were, Kumiko and Reina saw that they were really enjoying themselves at the beach, and decided to let them be as they played in the sand with each other. Just as they were about to return back, the pair then heard large amounts of water sloshing as the sea then started to rise.

As people were frantically scampering out of the water, the mass of liquid then began to morph into an amorphous shape, with all Pokémon naturally living in that part of the water being trapped in it as it continued to shift into different forms, still not completely settling on a definite structure.

Kumiko and Reina still couldn't figure out the specifics of what was going on, but their Pokémon immediately recognized the culprit behind their ruined beach day. At the center of the body of water was the same Pokémon that had disrupted their visit to the hot springs: Manaphy.

Wanting to pay the Mythical Pokémon back for all it did to them, Kumiko and Reina's Pokémon abandoned what they were currently doing and went to their Trainers' sides, hoping that they would give them a chance to fight.

As Marcato tried to explain to Kumiko for the second time about the disturbances that Manaphy had caused back in the hot springs, Eurydice simply tapped the Z-Power Ring on Reina's left wrist, wanting to Mega Evolve and gain the extra power needed to fight against such a powerful Pokémon.

"Everyone seems to be really fired up for some reason after seeing how crazy the water's got." Kumiko told Reina as Marcato tried his best to reenact what Manaphy did the last time they met. "Do they want to fight right here? As long as the problem's being dealt with by the Elite Four, I'm sure that we can still have a beach tournament."

Reina missed the collective facepalms of all of her and Kumiko's Pokémon, and continued talking to her special one. "If you're up for it, then we can have a battle right here and right now. Let's go all out."

Upon seeing her Trainer's completely off-the-mark reaction to everything currently happening, Idina sighed to herself. Despite how intelligent her Trainer was during battle, she could be so clueless sometimes in affairs regarding common sense. Thankfully, the two girls' bout of selective obliviousness didn't last long.

"You two over there? Are you Kumiko Oumae and Reina Kousaka?" a new voice rang out. Turning to look over at who was calling them, the pair saw that Ogasawara was coming their way. Now being able to see her more clearly at closer range, Kumiko noticed that Ogasawara was currently barefoot, wearing a yellow bikini top with green shorts and her hair tied in two small ponytails at the sides.

"Yes, we are." Reina replied. "And you must be Miss Ogasawara from the Elite Four. Speaking of names, how do you know ours? Did someone else from the League or Elite Four previously inform you?"

"Well, it all started after Tanaka met you two in Perto City, then the topic of you two came up again after Nakaseko and Saitou saw you battle and battled with you two in Edian City." Ogasawara explained. "You're certainly a pair of interesting individuals from what I've heard. That's why I need your help."

"Help? What for?" Kumiko asked. "We're just some ordinary Trainers only slightly over halfway on our Gym challenge, not Gym Leaders or members of the Elite Four like you? What could we possibly contribute?"

"The fact that the rest of my colleagues have paid special attention to you two means that your skills are quite extraordinary, to say the least." Ogasawara responded. "As for what you two are needed for, I'm going to need some powerful distractions to retrieve the Mythical Pokémon at the center of all this: Manaphy."

Their Trainers finally getting the point they were trying to make, all of Kumiko and Reina's Pokémon breathed a collective sigh of relief before Reina asked a question. "Manaphy? The Prince of the Sea? Why do you need to retrieve it?"

"This Manaphy has been known to be quite mischievous, and is always causing trouble for anyone near a body of water." Ogasawara answered. "Last time I met it, I managed to contain it to a lake not connected to any other water source, but it somehow escaped. To prevent it from causing more havoc, I need to first retrieve it before transferring it to somewhere it can't slip out again."

"I see." Reina noted. "So what do you need us to do now? There are a lot of ways to cause distractions, so I want at least a general idea to guide my tactics."

"Just hit the water structure directly from the front with your Pokémon's strongest moves and get its attention." Ogasawara replied. "While you two do that, I'll sneak up from behind and try to catch it. Manaphy can manipulate large amounts of water, so we'll need to keep it distracted for long enough to split its attention and prevent it from doing so."

"Got it." Heeding the Elite Four member's request, Reina then quickly Mega Evolved Eurydice as Kumiko did the same with Orpheus, then gave out orders to all her Pokémon. "Eurydice, Psychic! Idina and Demi, use Blizzard!"

As Reina's Pokémon stopped part of the water structure by telekinetically holding it in place and freezing it, Kumiko knew that she had to do something as well. "Sparkle, Thunderbolt! Orpheus, Thunder Punch! Marcato, Giga Drain!"

As Sparkle and Orpheus let loose their electrical attacks through an arc and two pillars of lightning respectively, the normal tendrils that appeared when Marcato used Giga Drain instead coalesced into an orb of energy in front of his right arm. Confused as to what was happening, Kumiko was surprised when Marcato let loose a beam of light from it, instantly cutting a hole through the mass of water.

"That must have been Solar Beam!" Reina exclaimed. "A Maractus normally doesn't learn this move until it's participated in more battles, but it seems that we've been involved in so many weird things that our definition of 'normal' may be a bit out of the ordinary."

"Fair enough." Kumiko agreed, then looked at her starter Pokémon. "Nice going there, Marcato! Look's like we've been improving faster than I thought!"

Happily jumping upon hearing his Trainer's praise, Marcato then quickly shifted his focus back to the battle at hand, wanting to exact revenge on Manaphy for all the grief it had caused, and it seemed that the Mythical Pokémon also harboured similar feelings as well.

Reforming the sections of its water structure that had been damaged by attacks, Manaphy then shifted the sections of liquid containing other Pokémon to a single spot, before all of them charged up and fired out a amalgamated Hydro Pump.

Marcato tried to use another Solar Beam to intercept the combined attack, but soon found that charging up the move took far longer than usual. Meanwhile, Eurydice used Psychic to slow down the Hydro Pump long enough for Idina and Demi to freeze it, with Orpheus slicing it into bit for Sparkle to destroy in midair.

Finally able to use his new move again, Marcato then aimed it directly at the mass of Water-type Pokémon Manaphy had mustered, knocking them all out with a single shot. Despite managing to cripple their opponent further, Marcato still felt displeased that he couldn't participate in the team attack. There had to be some way around this long charge time.

Meanwhile, Ogasawara had managed to circle all the way around to the back of Manaphy's water structure, using the diversion caused by Kumiko and Reina to sneak past the Mythical Pokémon undetected. However, the water structure began to change shape again just as she was about to sneak up, but thankfully Manaphy was still focused on Kumiko and Reina.

"Run! It's Mecha Tyranitar!" Kumiko shouted out half-jokingly, recognizing the robotic kaiju from old Kantonian movies.

"It looks like Mecha Tyranitar, but due to international copyright laws, it's not!" Reina thought back to a strange video she previously watched online about the complex legal situation surrounding this franchise.

"Still, we should run like it is Mecha Tyranitar!" Kumiko replied, but upon seeing the disapproving glares her Pokémon were shooting at her, she immediately decided against that course of action.

"Though it isn't." Reina quipped. As Manaphy's 'transformation' was taking a long time to actually finish, this provided ample opportunity for Kumiko and Reina to get closer to it and continue their bombardment of attacks.

With its opponents destroying its water structure more quickly, Manaphy realized that it needed to get creative. Sensing the water around it for any Pokémon that hadn't been knocked out by Marcato's Solar Beam, Manaphy managed to detect a single lifeform before bringing it to the 'head' of its creation.

Upon seeing what its trump card was, Manaphy's face immediately blanched at its rotten luck, and it started to panic at the situation it was stuck in. Somehow, a lone Feebas had managed to survive or avoid the Solar Beam.

"I think that's the same Feebas that Ogasawara just rescued." Reina pointed out, managing to get a glimpse of the Pokémon Manaphy had scooped up. "Feebas are quite rare, so there's very little chance it's another one."

"What's Manaphy going to do with that Feebas? From what I remember, they're quite weak." Kumiko wondered about that for a moment, then her mind dawned on a dreadful realization. "I think it's going to use the Feebas as a hostage! We have to rescue it quickly!"

To Reina, Kumiko's deduction was so eerily accurate that she took it as fact with little hesitation. "Then we need to do it as efficiently as possible so that Ms. Ogasawara's retrieval of Manaphy will be unhindered. Kumiko, let's use our Z-Moves!"

"Got it!" Slipping the Electricum Z she had into her Z-Power Ring, Kumiko saw that Reina had already done the same with her Icium Z as well. Idina already having frozen off the section containing the Feebas along with a large section of Manaphy's water structure using its Z-Move.

After Sparkle finished charging her Z-Move, she then used the massive bolt of lightning to bisect Idina's frozen section of water, cutting Manaphy off from a lot of its supply. As the ice fell back towards the sea, Eurydice then used Psychic to stop its fall in midair before Demi blasted a large chunk of it away with Moonblast, leaving only the section with the Feebas in it under Eurydice's control.

Levitating the remaining ice towards her Trainer, Eurydice then plopped the flopping Feebas down onto Reina's outstretched arms. Cradling the Feebas, Reina then waded into waist-deep water before tossing it back in, wanting it to peacefully return back to its natural habitat after all that it had suffered today.

On the other end of the battle, Ogasawara had managed to seize the opportunity gained from Manaphy losing part of its water structure to Kumiko and Reina's combined Z-Moves to finally get close to Manaphy. Taking a while to breathe in before holding her breath and slipping on a pair of goggles, Ogasawara then patted her Kingdra's back, telling it that she was ready to dive into Manaphy's creation.

With Ogasawara navigating deeper inside it, Manaphy didn't realize that an intruder had infiltrated into the core of its structure until it was too late, being more worried about having a large part of its creation sliced off. As it was gathering more water to regenerate the amount lost, Ogasawara knew this was a chance to land some decisive blows.

Giving a set of repeated hand signals to her Kingdra resembling sign language, Ogasawara silently ordered her Kingdra to use an attack in rapid succession without Manaphy noticing. By the time the Mythical Pokémon realized that something was amiss, several Dragon Pulses had already been fired straight at it.

Unable to dodge, Manaphy was directly impacted by the barrages of Dragon-type energy, which also had the side effect of blasting all the water away from it from the resulting shockwaves, causing it to lose control of the gigantic mass of water.

Now left in midair after all the water Manaphy manipulated fell back to the sea, Ogasawara and her Kingdra knew that this was now or never if they wanted to get Manaphy back. Preparing a Dive Ball, the Elite Four member threw it straight at her target as they both plummeted back to the earth.

With just a distance of a few meters between them and the ocean, Ogasawara gave one more hand signal to her Kingdra, ordering it to use a single Water Pulse to slow their fall down. With Kingdra shooting the burst of water out, the resulting force had enough lift to make sure that both Trainer and Pokémon wouldn't be painfully landing into the sea.

Making a smooth landing, Kingdra took no time at all transitioning back to moving in water, swimming quickly in the direction of the thrown Dive Ball as Ogasawara picked it up, though it was still struggling to fully capture Manaphy.

Riding back to shore, Ogasawara jumped off her Kingdra before recalling it back into its Pokéball, then went over to meet Kumiko and Reina, who were wondering how the water structure suddenly disappeared, resulting in the confrontation abruptly coming to a halt.

Just as Ogasawara was getting close to the pair of novice Trainers, Manaphy burst out of the Dive Ball, though the Elite Four member had predicted this happening well in advance. Quickly sending out her Golisopod, the burly Water and Bug-type quickly restrained the Mythical Pokémon, preventing it from returning to the sea.

Marcato hopped over to the Elite Four member's Golisopod and began a brief conversation, with Marcato punching the Manaphy being held in its arms after it ended. Shortly after, the rest of Kumiko and Reina's Pokémon joined in as well, finally getting an up-close-and-personal chance at payback.

"What… is happening over there?" Kumiko wondered, confused as to what her and Reina's Pokémon were getting up to. After Manaphy appeared, they had been acting extremely strangely. Did they somehow had a bad experience with it before?

"Don't worry about it." Reina reassured her special one. "They must've gotten angry at how Manaphy ruined their beach day. Just let them be."

After Kumiko readily agreed with Reina, the pair headed back to where they placed their belongings, and were about to start packing up when something began flopping out of the water towards Reina. Upon closer inspection, Kumiko saw that it was a Feebas, most likely the same one that needed to be continuously rescued.

"Oh, it's you again." Reina bent down to speak with the Feebas. Seeing that the girl had responded, the Feebas flopped happily at being noticed. "Since you swam all the way here to see me, you must be quite grateful for being rescued by my Pokémon." Another happy flop.

"Do you want to travel with me?" Reina asked, to which the Feebas initially responded with a confused face. "That way, you can become stronger and not need rescuing anymore. You may even be the one doing the rescuing!"

The thought of how cool the girl's partners were when they pulled off the rescue coursed through the Feebas' head before a choice was quickly made. Flopping in joy, Reina also seemed pleased with the Feebas' decision, having already prepared a Pokéball in her hand. "Great to know. Then that's settled."

Tapping the Pokéball at Feebas' head, the Fish Pokémon didn't resist during the entire process, ensuing a smooth capture for Reina. Throwing the Pokéball out again, Reina then scanned her Feebas with her Pokédex while beginning to think of potential nicknames.

"You're a guy, so maybe something like Neptune? Sebastian?" Reina pondered for a while before hitting on a good idea. "Ah! How about Handel? He's the composer responsible for composing Water Music. Since you're a Water-type, it makes sense!"

Though he didn't really know much about classical music due to living under the sea all his life, the newly-named Handel flopped happily at his Trainer's suggestion, overjoyed at finally finding a new home away from all the Pokémon constantly preying on him underwater.

While Reina continued to interact with her newest team member, Kumiko looked longingly from a short distance away. The last time she had caught a Pokémon was when Sparkle joined her team shortly before challenging her third Gym. As Reina's other Pokémon joined in, Kumiko recalled that she still had an Egg upon looking at Demi that had been received the same time as Reina's.

Wondering why her own Egg hadn't hatched yet even after so long, Kumiko decided to check up on it, mentally kicking herself for neglecting to regularly take care of it. Reaching for her bag, Kumiko was about to open it and see if anything had happened to her Egg when she felt something move inside…

* * *

A/N: Last chance to place your guess on what Pokémon is going to hatch out of Kumiko's Egg in the reviews!


	33. Chapter 33: 4' 33

Feeling the sudden sensation of her bag rumbling around, Kumiko frantically opened it as she took out the Egg in its incubator. Seeing it shake around inside, Kumiko then opened the incubator's lid as she cradled the Egg in her arms, anticipating the moment it would hatch. Shortly after, the Egg finally burst open, revealing the Pokémon inside, which was a-

Wait, no. Where had she ended up?

Standing up, Kumiko took a look around and only saw an infinite void of pitch-black staring back at her. For some reason, a small area around her body was illuminated by a light coming from nowhere, which revealed that she was back in her normal clothes.

"Am I dead? Is this heaven or hell? Did I get sent to the right place?" Kumiko asked no one in particular, her voice resounding across the darkness.

"No, Kumiko. You are not dead." A booming voice that resembled Shuichi's too much rang in her ears, causing her to jump in shock, or at least whatever the closest analogue was as she floated in the lifeless space. "I decided to bring you here for a reason."

"Uwaaah! Who are you, and why does your voice sound so much like Shuichi's?" Kumiko asked the person (or whomever/whatever this entity was), getting more and more confused by the moment.

"It's simple, but your mind may not be able to handle the answer." The voice spoke back. "Simply put, I'm the author of your story, who's currently typing out this sentence you're hearing."

"Author? Story? Am I some sort of fictional character?" Kumiko continued to probe the voice, who was currently writing Kumiko's line of dialogue to push the plot forward and give this impromptu interlude purpose in the grand scheme of things.

"Well yes, but actually no." the voice explained, trying to think of a good way to answer the question. "In your world, you're completely real, with all the trials and tribulations that brings with it, whereas you're just a figment of my imagination in my universe, and I'm the one responsible for sharing your story with others."

"So you're the one who created me?" Kumiko pressed further, amusing the voice. "And Reina and Marcato and everyone else I've ever loved or known? Does that make you a creation god like Arceus?"

"Not quite." The voice replied, preparing to explain the concept of derivative works. "You see, the 'original' you comes from a fictional novel in my world called 'Hibike! Euphonium' by Ayano Takeda, which was also adapted into a manga and an anime. To put it shortly, the novel's plot involves the 'original' you joining your high school's concert band, which the new conductor aims to take to the national level."

"Original? Then am I just a clone or a ripoff of the 'Kumiko' who plays in her high school's concert band?" Kumiko was having an existential crisis, though the voice removed those doubts from her head through the power of retconning.

"Technically, but let's just say that you're my interpretation of the 'original' Kumiko." Writing more, the voice found that explaining concepts about fiction to a fictional character was getting harder and harder. "Since I'm a fan of 'Hibike! Euphonium, I decided to write a piece of fanfiction about it, which resulted in the world you're currently living in."

"Aside from the high school concert band, what makes my world different from the world the 'original' Kumiko lives in?" Now that the voice had cleared up most of her queries, Kumiko thought that she could get more information. "Do Pokémon exist in the 'original' Kumiko's world?"

"Sadly, no." the voice sounded dejected at having to reveal this truth. "Neither do they in mine, where Pokémon only exists as an extremely profitable video game/anime/manga/multimedia franchise that I'm a huge fan of. Since the rights to the 'Hibike! Euphonium' novel don't belong to the same people who hold the rights to Pokémon, there is no chance of officially crossing over."

"So what you're saying is that because you're a fan, you decided to create my world?" Kumiko seemed to better understand the situation she was in. "Are there any more differences between them? Is Reina still my friend?"

"Precisely, but the next question is going to be a big one." The voice lamented. "Simply put, just about every notable Trainer you've met on your journey also exists as a character in 'Hibike! Euphonium', except for the girls of HTT and the people you met at Usagiyama. They're from the manga and anime series 'K-ON!' and the anime 'Tamako Market' respectively. I only added them in because the 'Hibike! Euphonium' anime was made by the same studio."

"Since explaining the other two series' situation will take too long," the voice continued. "I'll just explain the situation concerning how the characters and plotlines of 'Hibike! Euphonium' fit within your world. For example, Taki's the Champion in your world, but he's the conductor of the high school band the 'original' Kumiko is in. Some events from the original world will also be mirrored in yours."

"That's interesting, but I just want to know one thing: what's my relationship with Reina like in the 'original' world? Is she still just as close with the 'original' me?" Kumiko asked pleadingly, worried that her special relationship with Reina was made-up. While the voice had deliberately steered this conversation in the most interesting direction, the toughest challenge was up next.

"Ahh, now we get to the million-dollar question." The voice remarked, almost as if everything had been leading to this point. "In the original world, you and Reina are definitely closer than friends, but you don't have a crush on her like you do here. Instead, you were in a relationship with Shuichi for a while, but you two broke up soon after to focus more on the band."

"So my crush on Reina is something you invented here?" The voice's answer only seemed to give Kumiko even more questions. "But why would you do that? I know I'm not the biggest fan of Shuichi, but couldn't you stick with the source material more?"

"Listen, I've already put Pokémon in your world, so the source material's already out of the window." The voice seemed irritated at Kumiko's question. "The reason I decided to make you have a crush on Reina and be more ambivalent towards Shuichi is because of how other people reacted to the fact that the 'original' Kumiko ended up with him, despite the fact that you two didn't seem to have any chemistry."

"From the way you talk about it and created my world, seems like you're one of those people as well." Kumiko commented, though the voice already had a reply ready.

"Broadly speaking, yes." The voice explained. "When I first watched the 'Hibike! Euphonium' anime, I was only interested in the high school band aspect of it, since I play trombone in my own high school's band as well, so the characters didn't matter much to me. Only later did I find the character drama more engaging upon getting the chance to discuss the series with other people, which is when I started to support a relationship between you and Reina."

"However, the author of the 'Hibike! Euphonium' novels comes from a more conservative society, so the chances of the 'original' you and Reina being together in the novels is next to none, especially with the 'last' novel being released." The voice tried to sigh. "To make matters worse, the director of the anime seemed to heavily push the relationship between the 'original' you and Shuichi, making more people angry."

"What's wrong with a relationship between the 'original' me and Shuichi?" Kumiko seemed confounded at how much the voice seemed to oppose that notion. Was there something behind all this?

"Nothing, except that it doesn't have much setup and that there's more visible chemistry between the 'original' you and Reina." The voice was finally satisfied with this short and simple answer. "With how the 'original' you interacted with Reina, people felt that Reina was more deserving of your affection compared to Shuichi, who they felt was bland and more like a typical male character."

"So what happened to the 'original' me? Did she end up with Reina or Shuichi?" Now that the voice had explained nearly everything about the 'original' her, Kumiko just wanted some closure to the story.

"I have no idea myself. Even though I know a partial answer, it still isn't enough to answer your question." The voice tried not to leak forbidden knowledge to the outside world. "The 'last' novel has a really ambiguous ending, but I'm not going to talk further for fear of pre-emptively spoiling things to the others reading this."

"Others reading this? What are you talking about?" Every time the voice spoke, it just seemed to open up a new level of weird for Kumiko.

"The fanfiction I'm writing about your world is currently being published on a website, which everyone can access and read." The voice was proud at this marvel of technology. "Most of the people reading my writing are also fans of 'Hibike! Euphonium', but very few of them know about the 'last' novel's contents since it's in a language they cannot comprehend, much less read it."

"I see. But now I've got two questions left for you. Why did you bring me here and why do you sound like Shuichi?" With all that the voice said, Kumiko was confident she was getting to the end of the mystery, but she still suspected there was much more she didn't' know.

"The reason I brought you here was because I wanted to do something special for the day I'm publishing this chapter, so I decided to bring you here to have a chat with me to pass the time." The voice replied. "However, I want to show you something else. Take a look here."

In an instant, two visages appeared in front of Kumiko, with both depicting her (or at least people who looked eerily like her) in familiar yet completely different scenarios. One showed a Kumiko begging a Bulbasaur to obey her, while the other showed a second Kumiko battling multiple Starly with a Piplup.

"Wh-what is the meaning of this?" Kumiko asked the voice, who was silently laughing in mirth at the bucket of worms mentioning this had opened, while also fearing retribution from the authors of those fanfics.

"These are merely two of the infinite realities you exist in as a fanfiction character, but they are the only ones that involve Pokémon." The voice decided that was the best way to interpret this tangled mess. "One is by a prolific figure in the 'Hibike! Euphonium' fandom, while another is by an online acquaintance of mine. Sadly, both of those Kumikos' adventures were left on hold, so they're frozen in time."

"That's sad to hear. Will they ever get a chance to finish their journeys?" While Kumiko hadn't met those alternate versions of her, she still felt bad that they hadn't had the chance to fully explore their worlds.

"Ultimately, that depends on whether or not their creators want to." The voice didn't want to push other fanfic authors to write. "But no matter what fan content 'Hibike! Euphonium' gets, I'll be sure to support and promote it as a fan."

"But what about my own journey? Will you continue writing it? I don't want to end up like those other Kumikos." After seeing the fate of the other aspiring Pokémon Trainer Kumikos, Kumiko was now afraid that she would one day end up like them due to the voice not paying attention to her world anymore.

"You don't need to worry about that." The voice reassured Kumiko. "I've already planned out the rest of your story, so you'll get a proper ending to your journey. Besides, some crazy things will happen to you over the next few days and beyond, which will include both things you want and things you don't want."

"Can you tell me about those things? It just seems cruel to leave me hanging, especially since I'm your creation." This voice was really getting on Kumiko's nerves. Could she just get out of here?

"I won't spoil the surprise for everyone reading our conversation here, but I'll give you some advice." The voice tried to be helpful despite knowing Kumiko would forget all this shortly after. "Say yes to Reina, don't break down over what happens after the sixth Gym, and put your faith in Azusa when the time comes. As your fan/creator, I'll be rooting for you all the way. My way, of course."

"You keep yapping on and on about how you're some sort of omnipotent fan, but you still haven't answered the first question I've asked here." Kumiko was now getting angry at the voice, who made sure to tread carefully. "Of all people, why do you sound like Shuichi?"

"That's simple." The voice chortled. "I play the trombone, and since Shuichi is one of the most disliked characters in 'Hibike! Euphonium' and the supposed boyfriend of the 'original' you, I decided to mess with you a bit by borrowing his voice."

"Geh. You sound like one of those tricksters I keep hearing about in mythology. Someone like Hoopa, Mew, or Manaphy." Kumiko frowned at the last Pokémon. "Speaking of Manaphy, let me guess: the Manaphy we just met was all your fault."

"I'm afraid that's true, but right now I need to return you to your journey. You've got an Egg waiting for you, and you still need to find your own North Star after that." In truth, the voice was getting exhausted from having to explain so much in such little time, but felt that this was a good place to end. "I'll return you to a little before your Egg hatches to make things flow smoothly, but you'll forget about everything that happened here to avoid reality breaking. Until then!"

"Wait! What was that about finding my own North Star? Are you referencing something there?" Kumiko tried to ask the voice more about those last comments, but the only thing she felt aside from getting sucked away was the sensation of a mysterious wink directed at her.

* * *

While Reina continued to interact with her newest team member, Kumiko looked longingly from a short distance away. The last time she had caught a Pokémon was when Sparkle joined her team shortly before challenging her third Gym. As Reina's other Pokémon joined in, Kumiko recalled that she still had an Egg upon looking at Demi that had been received the same time as Reina's.

Wondering why her own Egg hadn't hatched yet even after so long, Kumiko decided to check up on it, mentally kicking herself for neglecting to regularly take care of it. Reaching for her bag, Kumiko was about to open it and see if anything had happened to her Egg when she felt something move inside…

* * *

A/N: April Fools! Even though this chapter isn't the usual sort of prank chapter, I still hope that you found it completely unexpected. If so, then it still should count for April Fools, right?

My original plans for this chapter were something more in-line for a conventional joke, such as a crack chapter or a 'all-just-a-dream' fake ending, but I decided to go with this 'Kumiko-meets-the-author' chapter since I couldn't help but want to make all chapters story-relevant, even if they're joke chapters. Pay attention to the last few paragraphs and you'll see what I mean.

If you've spotted them already, then feel free to put your guesses about what future events they refer in the comments. I've also referenced three other fics in this chapter. See if you can name them all!

Publishing this April Fools chapter also means that there won't be a chapter tomorrow, so the next full chapter will be on April 9th. This means there's still one more week to guess what Pokémon will hatch out of Kumiko's Egg. Stay tuned for next week's result!


	34. Chapter 34: La Vie En Rose

Feeling the sudden sensation of her bag rumbling around, Kumiko frantically opened it as she took out the Egg in its incubator. Seeing it shake around inside, Kumiko then opened the incubator's lid as she cradled the Egg in her arms, anticipating the moment it would hatch. Shortly after, the Egg finally burst open, revealing the Pokémon inside.

"Dein?" the black and blue Pokémon cried out. Having never seen this Pokémon before, Kumiko took her Pokédex out to identify it as Reina and her Pokémon came over to see the newest addition to Kumiko's partners.

"Deino, the Irate Pokémon," the Rotomdex began to drone. "Lacking sight, it's unaware of its surroundings, so it bumps into things and eats anything that moves. This Deino is male, and knows the moves Crunch, Dragon Rush, Superpower, and Fire Fang."

As Deino were quite a rare sight in Octiva, Reina was immediately intrigued. "So you got a Deino Egg from the Day Care, and they're not common here. With it knowing some strong moves right off the bat, that must mean it had some powerful parents. Could it be-"

Reina's words cut off as she began to be engrossed in her thoughts, leaving Kumiko alone with her new Pokémon again. Hopping off Kumiko's arms (which were starting to getting tired) after nudging his Trainer, Kumiko's Deino began trotting on the ground as he began to feel out his surroundings, getting a taste of what life was like outside of an Egg.

However, his lack of sight did not help matters, and he soon tripped over a small rock. As Kumiko went over to pick him up and help him get back on his feet, a possible nickname for her newest team member came to mind.

"I know that this is going to sound ironic, but how do you like Trip as a nickname?" Kumiko asked her Deino. "Since you can't see, you're going to be tripping around things a lot, and it also works as a guy's name."

Thinking about how ridiculously cruel his Trainer was to come up with such a nickname, Kumiko's Deino couldn't help but also agree that it did hold some meaning, so he nodded his head in approval, while secretly hoping that he would grow some eyes in the future.

"Great! Then Trip it is!" Kumiko declared. Looking over at where her other Pokémon were, Kumiko saw that they were still attacking the Manaphy being held in the arms of Ogasawara's Golisopod. Just how much pent-up rage were they hiding, and why hadn't she noticed it as their Trainer?

"Hey! Quit bullying that poor Manaphy and get back here!" Kumiko yelled at her Pokémon. "A new teammate just hatched and all you're doing is punching an already captured Pokémon? What sort of untrained wild Pokémon are you?"

Slightly aggravated that his Trainer hadn't taken him seriously at all during the entire Manaphy debacle, Marcato had enough of Kumiko's obliviousness up to this point. Quickly hopping over to his Trainer, Marcato was about to unleash a weak Wood Hammer on Kumiko as payback when Trip intercepted him with a Dragon Rush, having sensed danger approaching his Trainer. and sent the sentient cactus flying into the sky.

"Trip! Why did you do that?" Kumiko asked in shock and confusion as she looked in the direction Marcato flew in, while Orpheus used Teleport to bring him back. "That was one of your teammates!"

Not wanting to tell his Trainer that one of her Pokémon was about to commit an act of mutiny to her face, Trip just looked in Kumiko's direction like a petulant Growlithe, hoping that his Trainer would forgive him for not even being born yesterday.

* * *

After parting ways with Ogasawara and leaving the beach alongside their new partners, Kumiko and Reina stopped by the nearest Pokémon Center to rest for the night. Time certainly passed quickly during a day at the beach.

As nothing special happened today outside of both of them getting new Pokémon, Kumiko and Reina had more time to unwind tonight. Settling in their room, Kumiko was about to turn in for the day when Reina lightly tapped her on the shoulder, fresh off of taking a shower.

"Kumiko, haven't you realized that it's been quite a while since we've trained with our Pokémon?" Reina commented, causing Kumiko to realize the last time they had done so was shortly after winning the Double Battle tournament in Edian City. "Since we've still got time now, how about a bit of early-night practice?"

"Sure. Anything to be closer with you." Kumiko replied, then immediately clamped her mouth shut with her hands upon realizing what she just said. Reina also noticed the meaning behind Kumiko's words, though her reaction was a much more subdued widening of her eyes.

Heading down to the battlefield at the back of the Pokémon Center, Kumiko and Reina then sent out their Pokémon, including the ones they captured earlier today. As Reina Mega Evolved Eurydice to test her limits and was figuring out what Handel could do in battle, Kumiko also Mega Evolved Orpheus and let him spar with his sister, while she focused her attention on Marcato and Trip.

"So, about the new move you used today." Kumiko addressed Marcato. "Solar Beam, was it? I noticed that it seemed to take a long time for you to charge it up. That sucks, doesn't it?"

As Marcato nodded sadly at how accurate his Trainer was about this issue he was facing, Kumiko went over to where Reina was to see if her desired knew any way to solve this problem. "Why does Solar Beam take so long to use? Is there any way Marcato could work around this?"

"The reason Solar Beam has a long charging time is due to the amount of sunlight a Pokémon needs to absorb for the move to be usable." Reina answered. "While it is certainly usable with any light source or none at all, even artificial sunlight can decrease the time it takes for it to finish charging."

Reina's words about sunlight seemed to stir something in Kumiko's brain, and she hit on something upon remembering her last Gym Battle. "Is there a way for a Pokémon to create sunlight in battle? I know there's an Ability that can do it, but there should be other ways as well."

"The move Sunny Day creates a miniature ball of light resembling the sun, but even teaching that move would be difficult." Reina replied. "I'd suggest waiting until we get to Minant City to purchase a TM for it. It's an extremely useful move that goes well with certain teams, but my Pokémon wouldn't be a good match with it."

"OK, thanks a lot!" With her words of gratitude, Kumiko leaned closer to Reina than both parties were expecting, then went back over to where her Pokémon were. With what she learned about Marcato's Ability at the last Gym and Reina's advice, gears were beginning to turn in Kumiko's mind as she thought about how these could be used together to increase Marcato's strength in battle.

Upon returning back to where her Pokémon were, Kumiko felt something half-nudging half-gnawing at her leg. Looking down, she saw that Trip was performing those actions, softly nibbling at Kumiko's bare flesh while bumping his head at her.

"Trip, that tickles!" Kumiko exclaimed. While she had expected her new partner to behave similarly to what had been described in the Pokédex entry for Deino, Kumiko didn't think that he would immediately be that enthusiastic about it.

Slightly frightened by his Trainer's display of shock, Trip recoiled back before lowering his head in shame. Unable to see properly, he often had to touch objects by biting them to get a feel of where they were, but doing so that carelessly had inadvertently hurt his Trainer.

"Don't worry about it so much, Trip." Kumiko responded, seeing her Pokémon's dour expression. "If you want to bite me, I'll just wear some longer and thicker socks. That way, you can't hurt me if you bite lightly."

Happy that his Trainer had found a solution to their problem so quickly, Trip reared up on his hind legs and did a small dance of happiness, causing Kumiko to laugh at his adorable actions. While she did so, Kumiko began to think about some strategies to have Trip battle effectively.

From her initial Pokédex scan of him, Kumiko knew that all of Trip's moves dealt damage up close, so he would have to reduce the distance between him and any opponents to get hits in. Though the moves he hatched with all were powerful, strength meant nothing if they missed, which was more likely due to Trip's visual impairment.

Pondering about how to rectify Trip's natural weakness, Kumiko then realized that it could be easily corrected from the relationship between Trainer and Pokémon in battle. Giving out precise orders to him on where to move significantly increase the chances that an opposing Trainer would see through what they were planning, but Kumiko reasoned those were better odds than having him not know where to attack.

Looking over to Sparkle, who was currently trying to get Reina to teach her some new moves, Kumiko called her over. "Sparkle, since you're not doing anything right now, can you help Trip with his training? I've got something in mind for him, but I'll need your help for that."

Once Sparkle came back to Kumiko's side after receiving some advice from Reina, Kumiko started to address Trip. "All right, now that we've got over our teething issues, let's move on to the next step. Since we're going to challenge a Gym soon, you need to learn how to battle, and I've got a plan for how you're going to get good fast."

* * *

The next morning, Reina woke up to an uncharacteristically empty bed. Confused as to why Kumiko was't sleeping beside her for a moment, Reina then remembered what happened the previous night.

After managing to find some usable strategies for Handel in battle and feeling that the other members of her team had done enough training for the day, Reina then went back to their room to get some rest, but Kumiko wanted to stay behind and help Trip some more.

Letting her special one be, Reina waited for Kumiko to return so they could continue their nightly routine of sleeping together. However, one hour had passed with no sign of her. Then two, then three. Eventually, Reina felt her eyelids drooping down and went to sleep by herself, the first time in many nights.

Wondering where Kumiko could be now after so many hours, Reina went down to the battlefield after finishing her morning routines, wanting to check if Kumiko was still there.

To her surprise, Kumiko had fallen asleep on one of the nearby benches, with Sparkle and Trip nuzzling next to her while Orpheus and Marcato were resting on the ground beside them. Surprised to see that Kumiko had been training well into the night, Reina didn't want to disturb her special one, but knew that Kumiko would catch a cold if she remained there any longer.

"Kumiko, wake up." Reina tapped her desired lightly on the shoulder. "It's already morning, you know? You've been asleep here all night. I'm worried about you. It's really easy to get sick if you stay out here."

"Mmm, don't wanna." Kumiko replied while still half-asleep. "Being woken up by a pretty girl sure is amazing, but I'm too tired right now. Reina's waiting for me back there, so I've got to go back to her."

Reina watched as Kumiko moved her body in strange ways while making her familiar weird noises, though they seemed to be more huskier than usual. Confused as to what her desired was dreaming about that involved her, Reina sighed and was about to leave Kumiko and her partners alone when Sparkle accidentally moved a bit and discharged all the electricity in her wool.

The shock and awe tactic was successful in rapidly waking Kumiko and her Pokémon up, though Sparkle herself still remained asleep through the entire process. Rubbing her head, Kumiko realized that the Reina she was previously doing things with had suddenly disappeared, replaced by the fully-clothed one in front of her.

"BWAHHHH!" Kumiko exclaimed, shocked with the reveal that the real Reina had witnessed all the actions she had done in her sleep with Reina's dream counterpart, including some that she wished were kept private. "Reina! What are you doing here?"

"It's morning, so I came to wake you up." Reina simply explained. "You were asleep here for the entire night. How long did you train for after I left? I hope you got enough sleep."

"Uh… I really don't know myself." Kumiko admitted. "Maybe around four hours? I kind of got carried away and lost track of time after Trip managed to understand the orders I gave him."

"Please don't do this again. I don't want to worry about your sleeping habits." Reina knew that having a healthy sleep schedule was key to keeping a person's mind sharp, and if Kumiko wanted to improve at battling, then missing rest was counterproductive to that goal.

"OK, then I'll try not to do that again next time." As Reina meant so much to Kumiko, keeping her satisfied was on the top of Kumiko's priority list. "Do we have anywhere to go before we head to Minant City today?"

"As far as I'm aware, no." Reina replied. "Unless if you've got somewhere you want to go to, our next stop is Minant City. Speaking of which, why haven't you told me about the reason you don't want to go there?"

"The reason I haven't told you yet is because you'll see it everywhere when we arrive." Kumiko responded. "I'll just tell you that it's not because of Bug-types. It's something else entirely."

"Fair enough." Reina knew Kumiko enough to not press the matter further, preferring to be shown rather than told the truth. After accompanying Kumiko as her special one went through her own morning routines (along with the nightly routines she missed), Kumiko and Reina were now back on the road, going straight to Minant City.

* * *

"Wow. I've been told about how big it is relative to other cities, but I didn't realize that Minant City was _this_ big."

Arriving in Minant City after a couple of hours spent walking, Kumiko and Reina finally reached the city gates. With skyscrapers that seemed to glitter in the sunlight and streets paved with cobblestones, Octiva's largest and most modern city was clearly one built on its storied past.

"I've heard the Gym Leader in Minant City was actually appointed to the position very recently, and she uses Normal-types." Reina explained to Kumiko. "Rumors suggest that she knows either the Elite Four or someone else high up in the League, and that's how she got the position. Personally, I think that theory doesn't make sense. The only way a Gym Leader survives in their job is through skill."

"Yeah, I've got to agree with you on that point." Kumiko responded, trying to play her cards as close to her chest as possible. "There's no way that she- the Gym Leader here could've gotten her position through League connections. I mean, unless you're us, then there's almost no way a regular person could get to know someone high up in the League."

"Agreed." Satisfied that Kumiko agreed with her, Reina then saw that there was a shop selling TMs nearby, and motioned for Kumiko to follow her in. After finding some useful ones that suited their Pokémon, including the Sunny Day that Marcato so desperately needed, the pair exited the store when something caught Reina's attention.

Glancing up at a massive display hanging above them, Reina was intrigued at what it had to show about this equally massive city. On the screen, a Pokémon battle was raging on, featuring a Wigglytuff fighting a Chatot.

Though it was an ordinary fight by any measure, what caught Reina's attention was when the face of one of the Trainers battling flashed on-screen, along with a caption detailing who she was. Quickly looking back to Kumiko, Reina immediately saw the resemblance between the two, and put the pieces together in her mind.

"Kumiko, I think I now know the reason why you didn't want to come here." Reina told her desired, believing that brutal honesty was both the only and best option here. "Is it because of her?"

Looking at the screen, Kumiko saw who Reina was referring to, and confirmed her suspicions with a nod. "Yup, that's her alright. Guess I've gotta visit her now that we're in town."

Pulling up a map on her phone, it didn't take long for Kumiko to find the address she was looking for. "Oh, it's actually quite close to where we are now. We can walk there in a short amount of time."

Following Kumiko, Reina then began to see a long line snake around the block they were walking on, with the stream of people compounding into a cluster around the entrance of a shop on the ground floor of a rather tall building. Seeing Kumiko stop, Reina knew that this could only mean one thing. "Is this where you were going?"

"Yeah, sure is." Looking at the gigantic line, Kumiko was surprised that the shop had actually managed to be so successful despite being opened quite recently. Apparently, studying in Kalos was a good decision.

Searching for a way into the shop aside from queueing, Kumiko and Reina both couldn't see any other option, so they walked all the way back to where they came from and joined the line. As the queue shifted along at a Shuckle's pace, Kumiko's thoughts about camping in the line were interrupted by the voice she had anticipated. "Kumiko, is that you?"

Left with no choice but to reply, Kumiko turned to face the Gym Leader of Minant City, owner and head stylist of Minant City's largest salon, and her annoying-yet-adoring elder sister, Mamiko Oumae. "Haah? Sis, can't recognize your own sibling? Has staring at hairstyles all day made you blind to them?"

"Always with the barbed tongue, Kumiko." Mamiko chided her younger sister. "Though I've been guilty of that myself. How long has it been since I've last seen you? Two, three months? Half a year? Ugh, I've got so many things to keep track of that I'm not even thinking straight."

"Well, it should be around six months, give or take." Kumiko tried to assist her sister, knowing how much stress juggling multiple roles was giving her sister. "Anyways, the reason why my friend Reina Kousaka and myself are here is because we need to challenge your Gym to get all eight Gym Badges, and your Gym was the closest from our previous destination at Subdomi City."

"Kousaka, hm?" Mamiko's magenta eyes perked up at the mention of Reina's last name. "I've heard my friend mention that name several times before, but it was associated with a middle-aged man, so I'm guessing you must be his daughter, right?"

"Miss Oumae, who's your friend?" Reina asked. "And how are you so sure that I'm the daughter of the person you're mentioning? As far as you know, we could just be people that share the same surname, nothing more."

"For that to be explained, we'll need to have a little chat." Mamiko replied. "How about we go to my Gym for that? It's not as cramped as the salon, and it's on the second floor of the same building."

"Sure. I don't really have any objection to that." Despite being sisters, Kumiko didn't really know what Mamiko's Gym looked like on the inside, as she was too busy with her multiple jobs to keep in contact with the rest of her family these days.

With Mamiko leading them, Kumiko and Reina headed towards what seemed like a desolate side alley hidden away from view. Swinging open an emergency exit door, Mamiko headed up a dimly-lit stairway before opening another door that led into a corridor. A third and final door later, the three women were inside a cozy office, which was surprisingly neat given how slovenly Mamiko normally was.

"Ms. Kousaka, may I speak with my sister first?" Mamiko addressed Reina. "There's a lot I want to talk with her about, especially since we haven't seen each other in person for quite some time. You can wait in the main Gym battlefield until we finish. There should be some seats there."

"Yes, you can." Reina replied. "I'll excuse myself for now."

Heading out through the other door in sight, Reina exited the room she was in into the actual Gym itself. While she had no idea what to expect from how the battlefield area was designed, Reina was surprised to find that it was quite spartan, with little in the way of decorations or aesthetics.

Looking for the seats that Mamiko said were there, Reina then noticed that they were only cheap plastic chairs with little in the way of comfort near the main entrance. As Kumiko's sister had only been a Gym Leader recently, Reina concluded that she must have had no time at all to renovate her Gym with all her responsibilities, leaving it as-is for the time being.

Hearing the creak of plastic as she sat down on a chair, Reina took advantage of its poor joint connections to rock around lightly on it while she waited. After some time had passed, Reina heard a knock on the Gym's front door before it swung open, revealing the one face she never wanted to see ever again.

"Hello, is Miss Oumae here?" the voice of a certain Shuichi Tsukamoto rang through the Gym's barren interior. "I'm a childhood friend of hers, and I was wondering if she's accepting any challengers right now. Do I need to go down to the salon to find her?"

"The only place you're going is back to the depths from which you came from." Reina proclaimed as she sent out Handel. "Body Slam!"

"Wait, what? Feebas can't learn Body Sl-"Shuichi exclaimed before Reina picked Handel up by the tail and slapped Shuichi on the face with all her strength, causing him to drop two small objects from his hand. Quickly sending out Eurydice, Reina then gave her next orders. "Teleport him somewhere he can't get out of easily, then leave him alone and come back."

Obeying her Trainer's orders, Eurydice took hold of Shuichi and warped away, before reappearing in front of Reina a short while later. At the same time, Kumiko emerged from Mamiko's office with a luminescent blush on her face and tousled hair.

"R- Reina, Mamiko says you can see her now." Kumiko told her desired, not being able to hide her true feelings for long. Seeing Handel and Eurydice out of their Pokéballs, Kumiko was confused at this sight. "Why did you send out two of your Pokémon? Did something happen?"

"Nothing much." Reina responded. "Just had to kick an annoying pest out."

As Reina stood up while Kumiko sat down on the seat next to her, their arms brushed for a brief moment. The bright red on Kumiko's cheeks deepened further, and Reina could also feel the blood creeping up her face as well.

"…I'll get going." Reina bluntly informed Kumiko. Quickly walking over to Mamiko's office, she saw the older Oumae sibling reclining in a comfy chair while drinking something out of a mug, clearly having taken satisfaction from whatever she previously told Kumiko.

"Hello there, Miss Kousaka." Mamiko greeted Reina. "Or do you prefer to go by your first name?"

"Reina is fine." Reina replied. Though she preferred people outside of her family and close friends to refer to her by her last name, Reina wanted Mamiko to feel comfortable around her for some reason. Was it the cream-colored long-sleeved shirt and brown shorts she was wearing? Or was it something else entirely?

"Alright then." Mamiko seemed to be pleased at this arrangement as well. "With that settled, I'll tell you about why I know about you and your father. You see, I'm friends with an associate of his that you may know: the current Champion Noboru Taki."

"Sensei? You're friends with him?" Reina's emotions were sent into a state of flux as she processed the information Mamiko just gave her. So those rumors she previously read were true after all! "When? How did this happen?"

"Woah, easy there." Mamiko tried to calm down the frantic Reina. Apparently, the mention of her mentor put Reina into an emotional state. "To explain how I got to know him, I've got to tell you a little bit about myself."

"About a year ago, I went to Lumiose City in Kalos to train as a Pokémon stylist after I dropped out of university here." Mamiko explained. "Coincidentally, Taki was also there during that time, and we met each other one night after I helped him out of a tough situation."

"What? You saved Sensei? How?" At this point, Reina was beginning to feel conflicted by Mamiko's story. To her, Sensei was the very epitome of what Reina wanted to become, and the end goal she had strived for all her life. For him to fall was literally unimaginable from Reina's perspective.

"He was blackout drunk, rambling, and crying outside of the bar some friends and myself were drinking at." Mamiko answered. "I simply helped him back to where he was living, and frequently checked up on him to make sure that nothing like that happened again. Keep in mind that this was before he became the Champion, so he's a lot more well-adjusted now."

"Of course, Taki also helped me a lot as well." Mamiko continued. "He introduced me to an extremely famous Coordinator and stylist from Hoenn temporarily living in Lumiose known as 'the Charmer', who I worked part-time for while studying. Apparently, even being his apprentice made me a hot topic in the fashion scene, so I got a lot of connections and job offers, though I turned down all of them to continue learning under him."

"Eventually, Taki was invited back to become the Champion in Octiva, and I stayed back in Kalos to finish my training." Mamiko concluded. "However, he later told me that there was a Gym Leader position open here in Minant City, and asked if I could fill that role."

"Why would he ask you that?" Reina's curiosity was piqued. From what Mamiko had told her, her past didn't really seem to involve a lot of Pokémon battling. For what reason had Sensei recommended her?

"The Charmer's wife is a former Champion of Hoenn known as 'the Conqueror', and she currently runs the Gym in Petalburg City." Mamiko replied. "Taki suggested to 'the Charmer' that I go train under her for a month, then come back to Octiva and open a salon here, since there's a huge demand for Kalosian fashion."

"After that month of hell under 'the Conqueror' passed," Mamiko visibly winced at those memories. "I returned to Octiva and passed the Gym Leader trials, becoming this city's Gym Leader and Octiva's most in-demand stylist. With how well-known and connected I am in Minant City, I'm willing to help you with a favour on one condition, and I've already got it in mind."

"What?" Reina was now surprised at the direction this conversation had taken. First it was about Mamiko's connection to Sensei, then it was about her past, and now she wanted to offer Reina a favour? Just what was Kumiko's sister planning?

"If you can defeat me in your next Gym battle with Kumiko, I'll set you up on a date with her~" Mamiko playfully teased, causing Reina's face to immediately turn crimson. "You'll even get the full treatment at my salon beforehand, along with a choice of clothing for the occasion all on my dime. How does this sound to you, Reina? Too good to be true?"

"Wha- how?" Shocked at how Mamiko managed to find out about her true feelings towards Kumiko, Reina didn't know how to properly react. "…But I didn't tell anyone about my crush on her, and I just met you today! How would you know?"

"You didn't need to directly tell me about how you feel." Mamiko replied. "Just the way you acted around my little sister already confirms it. Kumiko doesn't let her guard down easily, and to see her do it so casually around you means that you've got a special bond indeed."

"Alright, but are you going to make it even harder for me to win?" Reina asked. "It's just going to be a normal Gym Battle with no added twist, right?"

"None at all!" Mamiko confirmed. "As her older sister, Kumiko's happiness is important to me, and she'll always remain that way with you around. I just want to take what you two have to the next level."

"Did you tell Kumiko about this deal you made with me?" If Reina held up her end of the bargain and won her Gym battle against Mamiko, then she wanted to surprise Kumiko with Mamiko's arranged date. "You know that we currently are just friends, right?"

"I also want to surprise Kumiko with this as well, so I haven't told her about what I've arranged with you." Mamiko told Reina. "Imagine the look on her face when you appear in front of her, dressed to impress and ready to spend a wonderful night together! Wouldn't you agree that's what you want?"

"Yeah…" Reina was already imagining how the date would go in her mind, but she suspected that Mamiko had already set something up in advance. With how Mamiko had structured this entire conversation around the objective of convincing her to go on a date with Kumiko, Reina wondered if she had formulated this plan when chatting with Kumiko beforehand.

"That's wonderful! Then you'll have your Gym battle tomorrow, and the date will be the day after that!" Mamiko seemed pleased with how things were fitting together. "Oh, and with how late it's getting, how about you two stay in my apartment's guest room upstairs? I'll even treat you to dinner!"

"I don't really mind, but I'll accept your offer. Thank you very much." In truth, Reina hoped that Mamiko would provide further insight into Kumiko's personality and character, letting her know more about the girl she desired.

"Great, then let's go!" Standing up and opening the door leading to the Gym's battlefield, Mamiko gestured for Reina to go first before following her. Waving to Kumiko at the other end of the Gym, Mamiko then led Kumiko and Reina as they stepped out of the Gym's main entrance and into a rather drab elevator lobby.

"This entire building doesn't look like somewhere you'd live or work in, sis." Kumiko commented upon seeing how bleak the building's interior looked. "I'd thought you'd live somewhere nicer."

"That's because I haven't found the time to hire someone to redesign the place." Mamiko explained, pressing the elevator button. "The entire building is owned by the League, but I'm just using only the bottom two and top, with the rest serving as physical and digital storage for now."

Entering the elevator, Mamiko pressed the button for the topmost floor, and waited as the lift doors closed and transported them upwards. With a ding some time later, the doors opened again to a single door in front of them, which Mamiko opened to reveal a better-decorated penthouse apartment.

Taking off her shoes, Mamiko placed them at the entrance, with Kumiko and Reina following her example. A Linoone scampered out of a hallway with a pair of slippers in its mouth and dropped them in front of Mamiko. Slipping them on, she then opened her shoe closet and took out two pairs, giving them to Kumiko and Reina.

Walking further in, Mamiko was about to step into the kitchen before Kumiko intercepted her, almost tripping in the process. "Sis, don't go in there! You'll end up making a disaster that barely passes as food again!"

Laughing to herself, Mamiko turned to face her younger sister. "Don't worry, Kumiko. I knew you would try and prevent me from cooking anything by myself, so I've already asked my Wigglytuff to buy some ingredients beforehand for us to cook together."

"What's this about cooking?" Reina asked, causing Kumiko to recoil with a look of pure terror on her face.

"Mamiko is such a horrible chef that she manages to burn cereal." Kumiko answered flatly. "Last time she tried cooking on her own, it took 12 hours for the smell to clear and two days for the kitchen to be fully cleaned."

Yanking Kumiko's ear, Mamiko was not happy about the lies and slander her younger sister was spouting. "Don't worry, Reina. Though I'm not all that good at cooking, Kumiko's just exaggerating about that incident. Right, Kumiko?"

"Right…" Dragged into the kitchen by Mamiko, Kumiko then proceeded to guide her older sister around as the two siblings began to prepare a meal, leaving Reina alone in the living room. Plopping herself down on the couch, Reina waited for dinner to be served as the smell of good food wafted through the apartment.

After a while, Kumiko and Mamiko carried out three steaming-hot plates of carbonara and a large bottle of citrus juice, which were coincidentally Reina's favourite foods. Did Mamiko have a Psychic-type peering into her mind?

Eagerly digging in, all three girls finished their meals rather quickly, having lost track of time while Mamiko was chatting with Kumiko and Reina at the Gym. The after-meal clean-up was the one thing that Reina was able to help with, helping to load the plates into the dishwasher (which she noticed had oddly colored stains in it).

Completing their nightly routines afterwards, Kumiko and Reina were about to turn in for the night when Mamiko told them one last thing. "By the way, the guest room only has one bed. Do you two mind sharing?"

"We don't mind." Kumiko and Reina responded in unison, giving Mamiko a surprise. Though both girls had told her that they were just friends, this statement meant that they were more comfortable with each other's presence than a mere friendship could account for.

"OK. Suit yourselves. Don't get up to anything while I'm not there!" Shooting them a wink before heading to her own bedroom, a faint blush appeared on both Kumiko and Reina's faces.

Settling in the guest room's sole bed, Kumiko turned off the light with the switch above them before rotating herself to face Reina. "Let's do our best tomorrow. I've got to beat my sister no matter what!"

"Same here." Reina replied. "After all, defeating her means that I'm one step closer to my goal!"

* * *

A/N: After 22 chapters of teasing what Pokémon will hatch from Kumiko's Egg, I hope the choice I made gave you a pleasant surprise! While I did mention way back that this was going to be completely unexpected, there's still a reason I gave Kumiko Trip the Deino. Since it's story-related, the only clue I'm giving is that he serves as a counter to a Pokémon on Reina's team. Feel free to guess who that could be (or what Pokémon Reina will catch that fits this description)!

I've also planned out Reina's date with Kumiko already, but leave your ideas in the review and see if Mamiko agrees with your choices!

Finally (after forgetting to mention it last week), a kind soul has drawn a piece of fanart for this fic! You can see it here (replace the (dots) with .): post/613898613132754944/to-be-a-solister-chapter-1-tekketsu08-


	35. Chapter 35: Les Champs-Élysées - Part 1

Waking up the next day with a determined smile on her face, Reina was pumped for her Gym battle against Mamiko Oumae. She was so excited that it had been almost impossible for her to sleep the previous night, with her nerves only calming down after they had been exhausted.

Turning over to check on how Kumiko, Reina was surprised when her desired was nowhere to be found for the second morning in a row. Wondering if she had pulled another all-night training regimen again, Reina hurriedly dashed out of the guest bedroom only to see Kumiko and her sister enjoying an egg-filled breakfast at the dining table.

"Good morning, Reina." Mamiko greeted her while eating an omlette. "You look awfully in a hurry. Nerves get to you while you were sleeping?"

"I thought that Kumiko was doing some training on her own again." Reina replied. "Yesterday, she stayed up all night to train her newest Pokémon, and I found her asleep on the battlefield the next morning."

"Speaking of which, you two haven't shown me your Pokémon yet." Mamiko remarked. "Well, I guess all of us forgot about that yesterday, didn't we? Then I'll just meet your teams on the battlefield soon. Reina, you should get prepared as well. Can't battle on an empty stomach, eh?"

Embarrassed at how she presented herself in front of the Oumae sisters, especially Kumiko, Reina's face turned red as she hurried back inside the guest room and began her morning routines. Once she was finished, she went back out in a more dignified manner, wanting to make another impression on her desired's elder sister.

Sitting down at the table, Reina dug into the food that had been prepared as Mamiko asked her some questions. "So, how many badges do you have? I'm assuming that you're travelling together with Kumiko, so you two should have the same amount."

"We each have four, and they're earned from the Gyms in Onic, Perto, Edian, and Subdomi City, in that order." Reina answered. "I started travelling with Kumiko in Perto City, though I started in Dacap Town."

"Hmm, so I'll going to be using _her_ against you two…" Mamiko mused with a smile on her face. "That's going to be interesting. Anyways, it's going to be a four-on-four match, so I hope you two are prepared for that!"

Finishing the last of her meal and wiping her mouth, Mamiko then slipped on her shoes before waving goodbye to Kumiko and Reina. "Before I challenge you two, I've got to go down to the salon first, so when you finish eating breakfast, just put the plates in the sink and head down to the Gym. The door will automatically lock itself. See you!"

Closing the door behind her, Kumiko and Reina watched as Mamiko left them behind. Eating the rest of their breakfast in relative silence, the pair tried to avoid each others' gaze, not wanting what Mamiko said privately to them yesterday to affect their current relationship.

Placing their plates in the sink per Mamiko's instructions, Kumiko and Reina headed out into the elevator lobby and waited for a lift to arrive. After hearing a 'ding', the two stepped in and stood quietly in close proximity to each other as the elevator descended downwards.

When the doors opened again, Kumiko and Reina stepped out of the lift and entered the Gym. Noticing that Mamiko hadn't arrived yet, the pair decided to sit on the Gym's provided chairs until she was finished with her business at the salon.

Figuratively twiddling their thumbs for a while, the sound of the Gym's door swinging open caught both Kumiko and Reina's attention. Emerging from the other side, Mamiko stepped into the Gym, the wind billowing across her hair as she did so.

"Good morning, young challengers!" Mamiko addressed Kumiko and Reina. "So, who's going to face me first?"

Finally having the courage to look at each other, Kumiko and Reina did so for a brief moment before Kumiko spoke up, having made up her mind the night before. "Mamiko, I'll challenge you first."

"That's good to know." Mamiko smiled at the outcome. "Just like I've said before, we'll each use four Pokémon, and whoever gets all their Pokémon knocked out first loses. Only the challenger is allowed to switch out at any time during the battle."

"With all that said and done," Mamiko continued, reaching for one of her Pokéballs. "I'll let the dogs out! Furfrou!"

As Mamiko's initial Pokémon landed on the battlefield with a bark, Kumiko considered who she should send out first. Mulling over her possible options, Kumiko decided to give her newest team member his first taste of battle. "Trip, let's go!"

"Hmm, a Deino. That's interesting." Mamiko commented on the first Pokémon her little sister decided to use. "You don't see those very often here in Octiva. How did you get yours?"

"Trip hatched two days ago from an Egg I was given a while back." Kumiko told her sister. "That makes him the newest addition to my team."

"Alright, enough with the banter." Mamiko gazed one last time at Kumiko, then looked to the referee. "We've finished talking, so you can start the battle now."

"Then without further ado, battle begin!" the referee announced.

"Trip, use Superpower directly in front of you!" Kumiko commanded, with Trip quickly rushing towards his opponent in a straight line.

"A head-on attack?" Mamiko seemed amused at what Kumiko was doing. "I was expecting something more from my little sister. Furfrou, use Cotton Guard to block it!"

Confused as to what move Mamiko had ordered her Furfrou to use, Kumiko was given an answer shortly after when Trip crashed directly into a mound of fur that Furfrou seemed to have grown almost instantaneously, completely robbing him of his attack's momentum.

"But… that isn't cotton." Kumiko weakly tried to rebut what Mamiko just said. "Fur and cotton are two completely different materials. Is that the name of a move combination, or are you just trying to trick me here?"

"That's what the move's called, no joke." Mamiko answered her younger sister. "It was first observed being used by Mareep, Wooloo, and Whimsicott, so the name stuck even when it was found that other species could use it as well. Now, counter with a Take Down!"

Shrinking all the fur it grew back into its body, Mamiko's Furfrou then slammed towards Trip, the close distance between them meaning that Trip didn't have a chance to dodge the counterattack. As Trip was thrown backwards in midair, Kumiko realized that she still had an option up her sleeve for Trip to get back in the battle. "Use Dragon Rush, straight ahead!"

A veil of dark purple energy forming around him, Trip's body was cloaked in it as he began to decelerate in midair before blitzing forwards at incredible speed, creating a trail of white light behind him. Impacting Mamiko's Furfrou, the powerful move wasn't one that could be easily defended against, even with Furfrou's Ability assisting it.

"Don't give up just yet! Use Iron Tail!" Mamiko ordered, hoping that the move would be strong enough to knock Kumiko's Deino away once and for all.

Standing on its front legs and spinning on them, Mamiko's Furfrou was about to slam its hardened tail into Trip before Kumiko thought of a last-minute measure. "Use Crunch on the tail in front of you!"

Slamming his teeth down, Trip bit on Furfrou's tail with all his might. Though it was reinforced with Steel-type energy, Trip's jaw was strong enough to shatter whatever protection it gave to Furfrou, directly hurting the Poodle Pokémon.

With a Dragon-type relentlessly gnawing on her Furfrou's tail, Mamiko knew she had to find a way to shake it off somehow without hurting Furfrou further. "Use Cotton Guard again!"

Increasing the volume of its fur drastically for a second time, Mamiko's Furfrou managed to get Trip biting down on a mouthful of fur instead. Stuck in his current position, Trip wasn't sure what to do next, but Kumiko had thought of a solution after seeing the attack once. "Bite down with Fire Fang!"

His mouth filling with embers, the blaze that began from Trip's teeth spread out in all directions across Furfrou's massive coat of fur, searing it away in an instant. Recoiling from the resulting Burn, Furfrou's moment of being delayed gave Kumiko the opportunity to land a decisive blow. "Trip, use Superpower 45 degrees to your right!"

As soon as he landed on the ground, Trip adjusted his direction following Kumiko's orders, then took off again in one last charge towards Mamiko's Furfrou, slamming into it with all his might into the wall behind them. When the dust cleared. Furfrou's silhouette was imprinted alongside its body in the wall.

"Furfrou is unable to battle." The referee announced.

Quickly recalling her Furfrou, Mamiko then sent out her next Pokémon in one swift action. "Linoone, let's put them to rest!"

With Mamiko's second Pokémon on the battlefield, Kumiko decided to switch Trip out, knowing that he wouldn't have enough stamina to endure a second battle. Thinking about who should fight in his place, Kumiko settled on her choice. "Marcato, play on!"

Mamiko took notice of her younger sister's next Pokémon as he energetically leapt out of his Pokéball with a twirl, unsurprised but intrigued that Kumiko would have a cactus Pokémon. "Oh, a Maractus. Did you catch it because it reminds you of the cacti you keep back home?"

"Marcato's my starter Pokémon, though I did choose him because he was a cactus." Kumiko replied. "Considering the other Pokémon at the lab weren't that appealing to me, he seemed like the most obvious choice."

"Well, I think he suits you." Mamiko complimented Kumiko's decision. "But let's get going. Linoone, use Extreme Speed!"

Mamiko's Linoone disappeared after she finished giving out her order, becoming a high-speed blur that was travelling directly towards Marcato in a straight line. With her sister's Pokémon approaching her own at a rapid pace, Kumiko had no choice but to match speed with speed using the new move Marcato gained from a TM. "Sunny Day!"

Two bright orbs appeared on the flowers sprouting out from Marcato's head, and were about to be shot skywards to create a miniature sun when Mamiko's Linoone slammed into Marcato faster than Kumiko had anticipated, preventing his Sunny Day from being released.

"Marcato!" Kumiko called out, realizing that she had misjudged the speed her sister's Linoone had been travelling at, causing her starter Pokémon to be an easy target for its attack. Would he recover quickly enough?

To Kumiko's surprise, Marcato was still standing from the blow, though the Extreme Speed Mamiko's Linoone used on him had taken its toll. However, what surprised her the most was that Marcato was glowing with a faint green aura completely unlike anything she had ever seen before.

"Did you learn a new move, Marcato?" Kumiko asked, to which Marcato shook his head, also confused about what the emerald glow was. Wondering if it was a side effect of the failed Sunny Day, Kumiko decided to order Marcato to attack as normal. "Use Giga Drain!"

With the tendrils' buds forming from his right arm, they shot out with a pneumatic hiss and wrapped themselves around Mamiko's Linoone in an instant, shocking both Marcato and Kumiko with their speed. Did something happen to Marcato due to the failed Sunny Day?

"What? How?" Mamiko also was dumbfounded at how quickly the Giga Drain tendrils had reached her Linoone. Though she had seen the move used many times before, never had she seen it act like this. "Kumiko, has this happened before?"

"This is also the first time I've seen something like this, so no!" Kumiko answered. As Marcato's Giga Drain slowly lost power, she then decided to test out the effects of this strange phenomenon on another move. "Wood Hammer!"

A creaking sound could be heard as Marcato squatted down, preparing to launch himself in the direction of Mamiko's Linoone. With a leap, Marcato disappeared into thin air before reappearing behind Linoone, his Wood Hammer swinging out so fast that it was just a green trail of light to everyone watching.

Though Mamiko's Linoone was tough enough to survive the attack, it just barely made it through. Partially stuck in the impact crater Marcato's Wood Hammer had created, Mamiko got an idea about her next move. "Use Dig, then Extreme Speed when you resurface!"

With Mamiko's Linoone diving underground, Kumiko and Marcato had no choice until their opponent reemerged to make their move. While they waited, Kumiko noticed that the green glow surrounding Marcato was beginning to dim, most likely meaning that whatever side effects he gained from it were starting to disappear.

The ground underneath Marcato began to rumble before Mamiko's Linoone burst out, though he jumped up just in time to dodge the Extreme Speed coming his way. With his opponent still shooting skywards from its unspent momentum, Kumiko could capitalize on this opportunity for an attack. "Latch onto Linoone with Giga Drain!"

Marcato's tendrils shot out lightning-fast with another hiss, and he slammed Mamiko's Linoone down to the ground before it could make a landing itself. Now that both Pokémon were on equal footing, Kumiko made her decision. "Solar Beam!"

With the sound of something being compressed, an orb of Grass-type energy started to form at Marcato's right arm. As it charged up much faster than usual, Marcato realized that whatever was affecting him was an aftereffect of the failed Sunny Day.

Releasing the pent-up shot after only a short moment, the Solar Beam blasted out towards Linoone with a gust, who was unable to dodge the literal light-speed attack as the last of Marcato's green glow disappeared from his body.

"Linoone is unable to battle." The referee announced.

Recalling her fainted Pokémon, Mamiko then faced her younger sister. "Whatever you just used seems like an interesting technique. From what I've seen so far, it looks like your Maractus absorbed the sunlight it generated rather than shooting it out, so the effects it had were multiplied in magnitude."

"Seems like it." Kumiko replied. "Marcato's Ability is Chlorophyll, so he moves faster under sunlight. Though I've seen it in use before, it's never made him go this fast or emit a creaking sound. Could there be more ways to use something like this?"

"Possibly, but you'll have to figure them out yourself." Mamiko really didn't know how to answer Kumiko's question. "Speaking of which, seeing your Maractus move around so fast reminded me of using the valve trigger on a trombone to assist in playing an extremely quick run, rather than only moving the side."

"I thought you gave up playing the trombone a few years back." Kumiko noted. Seeing her sister slot a musical reference into casual conversation was unexpected for Kumiko, especially since Mamiko went down a completely different career path instead.

"I picked it back up after going to Kalos, and formed a mildly successful jazz band with some friends while I was there." Mamiko smiled at the thought. "But enough about me now. Slap your tail to the beat, Cinccino!"

The next Pokémon that Mamiko sent out was the first that Kumiko actually recognized, being one of the first she had captured. Even back when it was still a Minccino, Mamiko's Cinccino had always helped clean up after its Trainer, being a reliable partner both in and out of battle. Now that it had evolved, both roles it played were better fulfilled.

Looking at her own partner, Kumiko saw that using the mysterious new technique had taken its toll on Marcato. Heavily panting after subjecting his body to more stress than usual, Kumiko made the decision to switch Marcato out for her team's current powerhouse. "Orpheus, follow my lead!"

Leaping out of his Pokéball, Mamiko was pleasantly surprised at the Pokémon that Kumiko had managed to acquire. "A Gallade, hm? I'm surprised that you didn't send him out first, considering that Fighting-type moves are super-effective against Normal-types."

"That's because Orpheus doesn't have any Fighting-type moves yet." Kumiko admitted. "But he still has other ways to finish a fight. Mega Evolve!"

As the flash of light signaling Mega Evolution enveloped Orpheus, Mamiko was thrown in for a loop again upon realizing that her younger sister had access to such a strong power this early in her journey. Did that mean Kumiko would be on the League's watchlist of notable Trainers?

Once Orpheus had finished Mega Evolving, Mamiko knew that she couldn't hold back against her younger sister anymore. "Cinccino, Tail Slap!"

Dashing forwards, Mamiko's Cinccino used its tail to vigorously attack Orpheus, the rapid flurry of weak strikes adding up to become surprisingly strong. Stuck on the defensive, Orpheus quickly Teleported out, but Cinccino managed to catch up in a short amount of time, rendering his mobility advantage moot.

"Don't give up yet! Psycho Cut!" Kumiko commanded. Unable to move his arms much due to the space Mamiko's Cinccino denied him, Orpheus only managed to use a weakened version of the attack, though it was enough to create some distance between him and his opponent.

"Use Bullet Seed!" Firing out a steady stream of seeds from its mouth, Mamiko's Cinccino barraged Orpheus from a distance, keeping him at bay for a short while. As Orpheus Teleported closer and prepared to use another Psycho Cut, Mamiko decided to switch tactics. "Rock Blast!"

Creating massive rocks out of nowhere between its arms, Mamiko's Cinccino began to repeatedly hurl them at Orpheus with all its strength, but he found the stones much easier targets to cut due to their larger size. With Orpheus finally in close range again, Kumiko decided to try attacking again. "Psycho Cut!"

His two arm blades glowing light pink, Orpheus slashed them out at Cinccino, finally managing to deal proper damage to his opponent for the first time. Though the move was powerful, Mamiko's Cinccino could still withstand it with some difficulty, so she decided to go on an offensive to prevent her younger sister from attacking. "Tail Slap!"

As Orpheus was preparing to use Psycho Cut again, Mamiko's Cinccino continued to use its repetitive attacks, forcing him to parry them with equally weak strokes. As Teleporting away was out of the question, Kumiko thought about what she could do when a fallacy in her thinking presented itself to her.

Ever since Orpheus evolved, Kumiko had thought of him as a pure physical attacker who used Teleport as a mobility option. However, this had caused her to neglect the ranged moves that Orpheus had previously learned, causing Kumiko to subconsciously forget their existence. Realizing that she could still rely on them, Kumiko made her decision. "Use Confusion to throw Cinccino back!"

Disabling his unfinished Psycho Cut for the time being, Orpheus fired a small burst of Psychic-type energy at Mamiko's Cinccino, knocking the Scarf Pokémon away. With an opening now created, Kumiko could take advantage of it and control the battle in her favour. "Psycho Cut!"

Generating Psychic-type energy on his blades once more, Orpheus slashed them out at Cinccino. With the move hitting her Cinccino being the make-or-break moment, Mamiko knew she had to do something to shift the balance in her favour. "Bullet Seed!"

Despite the multi-hitting move propelling Cinccino backwards in midair and staving off the Psycho Cut somewhat, the majority of the Bullet Seeds were slashed away by the stronger move, resulting in Cinccino eventually being hit with the finishing blow.

"Cinccino is unable to battle." The referee announced.

Recalling her fainted partner, Mamiko decided to give some feedback to Kumiko upon seeing how she battle. "Using Mega Evolution there gave your Gallade a lot of power, but it seems that you two don't have the skill to harness it properly yet. Relying on strong attacks won't work anymore when you face off against a tougher opponent."

As soon as Mamiko reached for her last Pokéball, Kumiko was confused as to why her older sister was trying to hold back a laugh, when she finally received the answer in what Mamiko said next. "Go, Kumiko!"

The expression of pure shock that appeared of Kumiko the human's face upon seeing Kumiko the Dubwool was so priceless that Mamiko couldn't resist the opportunity to take a picture of how her younger sister looked in the moment.

"You… you named… your Dubwool… after me…" Kumiko the human couldn't believe what her older sister had done. "What… how… why? Just why? Couldn't you think of a name not shared by someone you know?"

"I mean, the wool of Wooloo and Dubwool reminds me a lot of your hair, so it makes sense." Mamiko replied while barely containing her laughter. "Don't you think so? You've got really floofy hair!"

"Yeah, I've noticed." Kumiko flatly answered, not wanting to get trapped in her sister's antics. Recalling Orpheus, Kumiko decided to beat Mamiko at her own game using another fluffy Pokémon. "The time's come, Sparkle!"

Upon seeing that her younger sister also had another sheep-like Pokémon (Mamiko wondered just where the word 'sheep' came from), Mamiko couldn't resist but laugh further at the sheer coincidence. "You've got a Flaaffy! So floof really does attract floof after all! Kumiko, don't give Kumiko time to rest! Body Slam!"

As Kumiko the Dubwool began steadily rolling towards Sparkle, Kumiko the human thought about what to do while fighting off all the strange thoughts that had intruded her mind. Settling on the usual tactics she used with Sparkle, Kumiko the human gave her orders. "Use Thunderbolt!"

A bolt of lightning arced towards Kumiko the Dubwool, but she didn't even flinch from the powerful attack connecting, instead continuing to barrel towards Sparkle without stopping. With Kumiko the Dubwool slamming into Sparkle, she was thrown back from the powerful impact.

"The Thunderbolts didn't hurt at all! How?" Kumiko the human exclaimed. The powerful Electric-type move was Sparkle's go-to strategy for dealing with any Pokémon that weren't Ground, Grass, or Steel-type. Just what did Mamiko do to negate the damage?

"I was lying when I ordered Kumiko to use Body Slam." Mamiko explained. "For some reason, she's got the unique ability to move while using a weak Protect, so that was just her using Protect and rolling disguised as a Body Slam."

"I see." Slightly angry that Mamiko had lied to her, Kumiko the human decided to try something else. If direct attacks wouldn't work, then a status move could possibly breach the barrier. "Sparkle, use Confuse Ray!"

A ball of glowing multicolored light flew out from Sparkle's tail, but it too was blocked by the passive Protect surrounding Kumiko the Dubwool's body. With her backup plan failing as well, Kumiko the human resorted back to her main mode of attack. "Use Thunderbolt again and again!"

As multiple lightning bolts were shot in an effort by Kumiko the human to overwhelm Kumiko the Dubwool's Protect, the Wool Pokémon just simply shrugged them off without doing anything. Seeing her younger sister sink into despair upon facing the Pokémon sharing her name, Mamiko felt an evil grin creep onto her face. "Kumiko, Body Slam!"

Steadily rolling towards Sparkle, Kumiko the human got the feeling she was about to see Kumiko the Dubwool steamroll her entire team without doing anything. Having completely no clue what to do now, Kumiko then recalled a similar scenario occurring during the battle for her third Gym Badge, so she decided to copy what her past self did.

Taking out her Pokédex, Kumiko then pressed the button to turn it into a hard-light euphonium. As both Mamiko and Reina looked on, she then began to play the same piece as back then, the familiar warm melody resounding throughout the battlefield.

Futilely continuing to fire Thunderbolts to no avail, Sparkle then heard the melody her Trainer was playing, recognizing it as the tune she heard before evolving into a Flaaffy. Filled with resolve upon remembering how she managed to overcome the odds the first time around, Sparkle's eyes glinted with determination as her body was enveloped with a blue glow.

Kumiko looked on in wonder as Sparkle grew taller, her arms lengthened, and the remaining wool on her body disappeared from the process of evolution. When the blue light faded at last, Sparkle had become an Ampharos, her main body now yellow and white, with the gem on her tail turning red and an additional one appearing on her head.

"A mid-battle evolution? I guess fate really is smiling down on you." Mamiko remarked. "But don't think that'll be enough to stop us! Kumiko, use Body Slam!"

As Kumiko the Dubwool charged towards the newly-evolved Sparkle, Kumiko the human had regained confidence upon checking what moves Sparkle had learned, believing they could turn the tide. "Sparkle, Thunder!"

Though the variant of Thunderbolt was more powerful, it travelled slower than its weaker form, so Kumiko the Dubwool was able to dodge it with ease. Gnashing her teeth, Kumiko the human then realized she still had one more trick up her sleeve, this time borrowing something she used during the battle for her fourth Gym Badge.

Slipping the Electricum Z into her Z-Power Ring, Kumiko the human then did a series of funky moves as energy flowed from her to Sparkle. An orange aura surrounding her body, Sparkle then fired out a massive bolt of lightning larger than her previous Thunder.

Even in the face of such a powerful attack, Kumiko the Dubwool didn't stop rolling, confident that either her Protect would hold or she could dodge in time. Continuing to build up speed. Kumiko the Dubwool barreled towards Sparkle without hesitation, but what happened next completely surprised her.

Sparkle's Z-Move had travelled so quickly that Kumiko the Dubwool was unable to react in time to avoid it, so she had no choice but to take it head on with Protect. Strengthening her defense at the last moment, Kumiko the Dubwool slowed herself down to tank the Z-Move, but it collided with such an impact that the Protect was completely shattered, sending Kumiko the Dubwool flying backwards.

That one move was enough to decide the battle's outcome, as Sparkle's raw power from the combination of evolution and using a Z-Move was enough to knock out Kumiko the Dubwool. With Mamiko's last Pokémon out of the fight, the referee's decision was swift.

"Dubwool is unable to battle." The referee announced. "The challenger emerges victorious!"

"You sure gave me an excellent battle today, Kumiko!" Mamiko praised her younger sister as she recalled Kumiko the Dubwool. "Though I would never have imagined that you were packing Mega Evolution, Z-Moves, and a mid-battle evolution just to face me! If I had known sooner, then I would've brought my A-game today!

"Thanks, sis." Kumiko replied, slightly relieved that the confusion between Mamiko's Dubwool and herself had finally ended. "But I really didn't plan for Sparkle to evolve in the middle like that. It just happened by itself."

"Speaking of your Flaaffy evolving into an Ampharos, I've actually got something that I can give you, along with your Gym Badge." Mamiko remarked. "It's something I got in Kalos that I can't use myself, but I'm sure that you can make the most of it. Hang on a moment."

Disappearing into her office for a while, Kumiko moved nearer to its door as she heard some bangs and crashes from inside. Several moments later, Mamiko returned with her hair slightly messed up and two objects in her right hand.

Sitting in the palm of Mamiko's hand was a white marble-sized spherical stone, with a red and yellow section in the middle. Realizing that it was a Mega Stone, Kumiko could just about guess what Mamiko was about to say next.

"This is an Ampharosite." Mamiko told her younger sister. "With it, your Ampharos can Mega Evolve. Since I don't have an Ampharos and you're the only person I know with one, you can have it for as long as you like. Consider it a surprise present from your big sis!"

Filled with gratitude upon seeing her sister just nonchalantly give her something so precious for free, Kumiko couldn't hold back her feelings anymore. "Thanks, sis! You're the best!"

"And don't you forget that!" Mamiko said with a wink. "Especially with everything I've prepared for you!"

Her face involuntarily turning red upon remembering the deal she made with Mamiko yesterday, it took what her older sister said next to snap Kumiko out of her current state.

"For beating me, you get the Mixolydian Badge." Mamiko presented her Gym's badge to Kumiko. "Wow, five badges already, huh? With that, looks like you've successfully held up your end of the bargain! Congratulations!"

With Mamiko continuing to casually toy with her feelings, Kumiko's face became as red as a Cheri Berry again, unable to properly respond. Fully satisfied after constantly teasing her younger sister, Mamiko decided to shift the topic back to the Ampharosite, wanting Kumiko to know more about it.

"There's something I forgot to tell you about the Ampharosite." Mamiko remarked. "While it's quite special, what made it truly memorable for me was how I got it back in Kalos. I'll tell you and Reina the story while we wait for my Pokémon to recover for her Gym Battle up next."

Motioning for Reina to come over, Mamiko cleared her throat before beginning her recollections. "Like all good stories, this one involves a rhythmic gymnast-turned-chef, a globe-trotting martial artist, a naginata-wielding swordswoman, and a drunken road trip across half of Kalos…"

* * *

A/N: Just who are Mamiko's friends? The only hint I'll give about them is that they are all from other KyoAni animes, so feel free to guess their identities down in the reviews!


	36. Chapter 36: Les Champs-Élysées - Part 2

_6 months ago…_

"Mmm! These whiskey bonbons are delicious!" Mamiko exclaimed while popping another one in her mouth. "Where did you get them, Tomoe?"

"My little brother mailed me a box he got from his girlfriend." Tomoe Oreki answered while scooping another one up with her hand. "He also told me how she got extremely drunk from eating too many of them at once, causing her to hallucinate and pass out."

"If you like, I could try making them for us." Touka Takanashi added, feeling their taste in her mouth. "Since I've never made alcoholic sweets before, it would be an interesting challenge. I could even increase the alcohol content, since we're all adults here. Though if I were to send a batch to my younger sister, I wonder how they'll affect her…"

"I envy you three all having relatively normal siblings." Izumi Nase sighed, hoping for the alcohol inside the whiskey bonbons to take effect soon. "I still can't wrap my head around the thought that my younger brother is madly in love with my younger sister, and it's a miracle that he hasn't been completely disemboweled by her yet."

"You think that's weird?" Touka retorted. "My younger sister traps herself in an imaginary world of her own making to hide away from reality, with her boyfriend and friends supporting her decision to do so."

"Well, kids will be kids." Mamiko relented. "We all were like that a few years ago, minus the incest and escapism parts. Still, they will eventually grow up when the time comes, so don't worry about it too much."

Laughing about their shared experiences of having younger siblings, this was how the four women became friends in the first place. Though their life experiences were vastly different, the trials and tribulations of being older siblings had brought them closer together as roommates sharing a house on the outskirts of Lumiose City.

Back when she first arrived in Lumiose, Mamiko had been looking for a place of her own to stay while she continued studying as a stylist there. Since Touka also attended the same vocational school as a culinary student, they met through a stroke of serendipity one day, and the two hit it off almost immediately, beginning to look for other roommates soon after.

While she had planned to only stop in Lumiose for a few days on her journey around the world, Tomoe was convinced by Mamiko and Touka to stay a while longer, and she ended up living with them for nearly an entire year, taking courses at a nearby university to pass the time.

Finally, Izumi was the scion of a wealthy family investigating reports of Ultra Beasts in Kalos for the International Police. Though she had the means to live on her own, Izumi was roped in by the camaraderie the other three women shared, and soon developed a close enough friendship with them to end up living together.

Six months had passed since they all moved into their shared home, but since everyone had their own paths in life to pursue, all four women knew that their time together would eventually come to a close, which was why Mamiko had come up with an extra-special bonding activity that night under the influence.

"Maybe we should go on a road trip!" Mamiko suggested, getting slightly tipsy from the whiskey bonbons. "Since we don't know when we'll see each other after we separate, why don't we make some awesome memories together to remember each other by? It's going to be awesome!"

"Good idea, Mamiko!" Tomoe exclaimed, also slightly drunk. "Say, why don't we borrow Izumi's car? I'm sure her verrry rich family won't get mad at us even if we completely wrrreck it! This is perfect!"

"Alright, girls! I'm getting the keys!" Izumi stood up, then fell down as she attempted to walk forwards, clearly getting high on alcohol as well. Not picking herself up, she then proceeded to do a body shuffle on the floor towards her bag. "Touuuuu-ka, make sure you pack enough food for us, OK? I don't want to go hungry mid-way!"

Meanwhile, Touka had completely passed out on the couch, having failed to hold her drink (or at least alcohol content). Disregarding her friend's unconscious state, Mamiko impulsively took out a bottle of champagne from the fridge and popped it open, unaware that its cork had shattered a light fixture while flying out.

"Well then, let's drink to that!" Mamiko exclaimed, getting out several wine glasses and pouring champagne in them, passing them around to her friends. "To our everlasting friendship!"

"To our everlasting friendship!" the other women echoed.

* * *

"Oi! Do you have any idea what you've done to this wall? The building it's part of is at least 200 years old, and you've gone and smashed it with your car!"

Rubbing her eyes, Mamiko slowly blinked them open as she saw a short old man yell at her from outside. Despite her head throbbing with a hangover, Mamiko was sober enough to take notice of the situation she was in, and looked around to see her friends passed out inside Izumi's car.

Slowly starting to remember what happened last night, Mamiko recalled loading Touka into the back seat of Izumi's car before they sped away to parts unknown with Tomoe at the wheel. By some absurd stroke of luck, they hadn't been stopped midway in their journey by a breathalyzer test, though this meant that none of them had any idea where they ended up.

"I'm sorry sir, but where are we?" Mamiko asked, completely confused as to what destination they had arrived at. "My friends and I were on a road trip yesterday, and we weren't in the best state of mind when we were driving, so sorry about crashing into that wall and breaking it."

"You're at the Tower of Mastery, just outside of Shalour City." The old man answered. "I'm Gurkinn, the person who runs and takes care of this place. And now you and your friends have increased my workload because of your little stunt."

"Sorry about that." The recently-awakened Tomoe apologized, having heard enough of the conversation to gauge what was going on. "If you need it, we can repay you with the amount of money needed for repairs."

"Ah, there's no need for that." Gurkinn replied. "This building's just about to collapse on itself anyways, and more people coming in to repair it would only hasten the process. After all, too many cooks spoil the broth, though there is something I'd like some extra hands on. Have any of you heard of Mega Evolution?"

"I have," Izumi piped up, having propped herself up in her seat. "It's a temporary evolution in battle which changes a Pokémon's appearance and tremendously increases its power, though it requires a deep connection between Trainer and Pokémon, with only a limited number of species able to do it with the aid of Mega Stones."

"Precisely," Gurkinn seemed relieved that he wouldn't have to explain the concepts of Mega Evolution to yet another bunch of people. "While the phenomenon has been well-documented since ancient times, there is still much we don't know about it. Which is why you four have arrived at the perfect time to help me with something: fighting a Mega Evolved Pokémon."

"Us?" Touka didn't know how to react in this sort of situation, having been thrust into it with no prior preparations. "But what if we aren't good enough as Trainers to battle a Mega Evolved Pokémon? Then what happens?"

"Not to worry," Gurkinn reassured them. "I just wanted to see if a Mega Evolved Pokémon can multitask properly and fight four Pokémon at once, since most battles involving Mega Evolution are one-on-one battles."

"How long will that take?" Mamiko was a bit worried about what they were getting roped into. "We drove all the way here from Lumiose on a whim, so we're not from around here."

"What? From that distance, taking a plane here would be faster! Were you drunk?" Gurkinn was shocked that the people he was talking to had pulled off such a crazy stunt. "Well, since you need to get back to Lumiose, I'll just make it one battle. But boy oh boy, will it be spectacular!"

* * *

"Cinccino, dodge then use Bullet Seed!"

Barely avoiding a Force Palm from Gurkinn's Mega Evolved Lucario, Mamiko's Cinccino then sprayed out a swarm of seeds from the distance it had gained, whittling down Lucario's stamina from a distance.

To Lucario's left side, Tomoe's Mienshao had lunged into the air with a High Jump Kick, while Touka's Tsareena did the same but with a Trop Kick on the right, both ready to execute a simultaneous strike from above. While Lucario was distracted from all three fronts, Izumi's Glaceon had flanked it from behind and used Frost Breath, sending a wave of cold air its way.

About to be attacked from all directions, Lucario was confused as to what it should do next. With only a split second to react, it quickly charged up an Aura Sphere in its right hand and slammed it into the ground, creating a small shockwave that knocked its opponents back.

However, this did little to deter any of them, as Mamiko's Cinccino just rushed back in with a Tail Slap, Tomoe's Mienshao and Touka's Tsareena still had enough momentum to keep going, and Izumi's Glaceon simply just exhaled another Frost Breath.

Hit by this combination of attacks all at once, even the might of Mega Evolution wasn't enough to save Gurkinn's Lucario from being dealt a massive amount of damage. Falling to the ground a while later, Lucario reverted back to its normal form upon collapsing, signaling that it was in no condition to continue fighting.

"Wonderful!" Gurkinn exclaimed. "That was an impressive display of teamwork from all four of you! My other Lucario has already recorded the footage of this battle for future reference, so thank you for your work!"

Nodding to the Lucario currently holding a video camera, the other Aura Pokémon then rushed back into the Tower of Mastery to upload the recordings, emerging a short while later with several objects in its hands.

"Oh, Lucario also wanted me to give you some of these Mega Stones." Gurkinn remarked. "Since a lot of people send them to us here for research, we've ended up with a sizeable surplus. Here, have one each."

Handing out the Mega Stones to Izumi, Touka, Tomoe, and Mamiko, Gurkinn then told them what Mega Stones they got. "The Mega Stones I just gave you were Glalitite, Houndoomite, Sceptilite, and Ampharosite. Since I don't really go out anymore, I hope you can help me find Trainers that are worthy of using these stones."

* * *

"…and that's how I got the Ampharosite." Mamiko finished. "Man, that certainly was one hell of a road trip. I still can't believe that we managed to get back to Lumiose on time after that, especially with a smashed-in car."

"So you got the Mega Stone just like that?" Reina asked. "Then what about the broken wall and the car? It seems to me that you and your friends got off the hook just like that without any consequences."

"Well, Izumi was rich enough to get a new car, though she did fix up her old one and sold it off." Mamiko answered. "And a repair bill for the wall did come in the mail a couple of months later, but we split the cost evenly amongst ourselves."

"Then that explains everything." Reina was satisfied that Mamiko had given her a proper conclusion to this strange story. "I'll go make some last-minute preparations for our Gym battle. With everything that you'll be throwing at me, I need to be at full strength if I want to fulfill my end of the deal."

"All fired up after seeing Kumiko, huh?" Mamiko smiled at Reina, whose face turned slightly red. "If you want my little sister, I'm not going to go easy on you! Speaking of which, I think my Pokémon should be all healed up now, so I'm ready when you are. Just wait for me a little bit, alright?"

With Mamiko departing back to her office, Reina then went to the challenger's side of the battlefield as Kumiko sat on the seats at the sidelines. Sending out Demi, Reina bent down and talked to her partner, wanting her to know the stakes this Gym battle would have.

"Demi, I'm going to need your help here." Reina whispered, not wanting Kumiko to know about the deal she made with Mamiko. "The Gym Leader promised me that I win this Gym battle, she'll set me up on a date with Kumiko, so I want to evolve you here before I challenge her to increase our chances. Is that OK with you?"

Reina took out the Ice Stone she got from Mirai Sezaki a few days prior, Demi's face visible on its shiny light blue surface. Looking at her Trainer, Demi could see a pleading look in Reina's eyes, almost as if the outcome of the upcoming battle meant the world to her. With a small nod, Demi used her front right paw to tap the Ice Stone, and her body instantly became enveloped in a blue light.

The most obvious change to Demi was that she instantly became larger, with her six tails growing longer and being joined by three more in the process. The small tuft of fur on her head grew into a full-fledged mane that stretched out backwards, splitting into several thick strands.

When the glow disappeared, Demi had become an Alolan Ninetales in all her new glory and majesty. As Demi softly yapped while looking at her new form, Reina found it irresistible not to reach out and stroke her fur. Rubbing her hand over Demi's back, a cool, silky feeling coursed through Reina's fingers, akin to an untouched blanket.

"Oh, Reina. You evolved Demi!" Kumiko commented. "So even you need some extra power to deal with the Pokémon Mamiko's packing. Guess you also realized you needed to up your game after seeing how tight my battle was, right?"

"Yeah, I guess so." Reina casually brushed off Kumiko's question. She didn't want her special one to know about the deal she made with Mamiko about the date. If Kumiko knew, then the element of surprise Reina hoped would act as the Cherubi on top of everything would be lost.

"All right, I see that you've got your Pokémon out already." Mamiko observed, emerging from her office. "An Alolan Ninetales, hm? A lot of powerful Trainers also have one, since they're good both offensively and defensively. One Trainer I know personally with one is Mirai Sezaki, the Gym Leader of Eigve City. Out of all of us Gym Leaders, she's the strongest, so I bet she'll give you the hardest fight yet in your challenge."

"Not even a minute ago, Demi here was still an Alolan Vulpix. I evolved her upon realizing that this was going to be an uphill battle for me, so you'll be the first to face her in battle." Reina remarked. "Speaking of Mirai Sezaki, Kumiko and I had the opportunity to meet her a few days back. I challenged her Alolan Ninetales with three of my Pokémon, and was about to lose three-nil when we discovered that Demi and her were related, since their Eggs both came from the Perto City Day Care."

"Interesting..." Mamiko mused. "There's a lot of Pokémon that are indefinitely left there by various Trainers, and one of the ones I know of is an Alolan Ninetales. From what I know, it was left by an extremely strong Trainer, so maybe it was the parent of both Mirai's and your own Alolan Ninetales."

"Miss Sezaki promised me she would look into this matter, and would tell us the full story once we got to Eigve City." Reina replied. "Though I can't shake the feeling that there's something important missing from the story."

"Well, perhaps you'll find out about that one day." Mamiko concluded. "But enough with that. Let's get on with the battle! Wiggle your tail, Furfrou!"

As Mamiko sent out her first Pokémon, Reina decided to keep Demi on the battlefield for now, both to get a glimpse of her newfound power and use her unique abilities to turn the tide of battle in her favor before it even began.

Seeing both the Gym Leader and challenger's Pokémon on the field, both the referee's arms raised. "Battle begin!"

Before both Trainers could make their first move, Kumiko noticed that a small cloud had formed over the battlefield, slightly dimming the lights above before hail rained down from it onto both Pokémon. Seizing this opportunity, Reina decided to use the strategy most Trainers with Alolan Ninetales opened with, playing 'Do You Want to Build a Snowman' on her hard light trumpet.

A barrier of multicolored light formed around Demi, then slowly shimmered away until it became little more than an occasional rainbow hovering above her. Though she knew that her opponent had doubled her defenses with that move, Mamiko still had ways to negate its power.

"Use Thunder Wave!" Mamiko ordered. A weak burst of static was emitted from Furfrou's fur towards Demi, which Paralyzed her before she could do anything else. Though she now had a severe handicap in the opening moves of the battle, Reina was still undeterred by this setback, completely focusing on winning this match and subsequently Kumiko's heart. Playing 'Let It Go', Reina signaled to Mamiko that she wasn't planning on giving up this early.

Whipping up ferocious winds that took advantage of the hail around her, Demi then thrust it out towards Mamiko's Furfrou. While this attack could normally be easily dodged due to the wind's slow speed, the sheer amount of hail and sleet that got trapped in it vastly increased the move's density, making it seem like an advancing wall of ice to anyone watching.

"Furfrou, Cotton Guard!" Growing its fur out to form a thick protective coat around it, Mamiko's Furfrou was able to weather the Blizzard surprisingly well, though it did take a lot of damage due to Cotton Guard mainly increasing the user's defense.

"Remember our wallbreaker strategy! Swagger!" Mamiko shouted. With a bark, her Furfrou sent Demi into a daze, causing her to stagger around the battlefield all while her muscles twitched due to the previous paralysis. Despite all this, Reina was still confident that Demi could still emerge victorious.

Playing 'Let It Go' another time, Demi attempted to summon another winter wind to her side, but she collapsed from her confusion. Smiling to herself, Mamiko noted that despite a strong start that almost cinched victory, Reina wasn't that suited for prolonged, drawn-out battles.

"Furfrou, use Take Down to whittle down Ninetales' health!" Mamiko ordered. Retracting its overgrown fur back into its body, Mamiko's Furfrou then charged at Demi, slamming her from multiple directions as she couldn't move to dodge those attacks in time.

However, the Take Downs from Mamiko's Furfrou were getting weaker with each successive hit as the recoil damage began to take its toll, though Demi was still an easy target due to being both Confused and Paralyzed. As she watched Demi unable to attack, Reina hoped that Demi could eventually snap out of her confusion and be able to battle normally soon.

Preparing for one last Take Down to defeat Demi, Mamiko's Furfrou was about to go for the decisive blow when its body suddenly gave out, falling towards the floor with little warning, shocking Mamiko in the process.

"Furfrou is unable to battle." The referee announced.

"What? Don't tell me you also counted on the hail to take Furfrou down!" she exclaimed. "With how little you said, I knew you were hiding something all this time!"

"Perhaps I did." Reina responded mysteriously. "Or maybe everything aligned perfectly to make this victory possible. Either way, looks like I'm one step closer to upholding my end of the deal, so don't stop me now."

"I never was planning on that." Mamiko recalled her knocked out Furfrou. "But this was just the beginning. Don't give her a rest, Linoone!"

With Mamiko sending out her next Pokémon, Reina decided to switch out Demi, knowing that she couldn't continue battling in her current condition. Seeing as both the hail and Aurora Veil were still active from what Demi set up, the Pokémon she should use now was obvious to Reina. "Idina, become one with the wind and sky!"

Gliding down onto the battlefield, Mamiko seemed interested in Reina's choice of Pokémon. "A Froslass, hm? Really suits both your personality and battling style, from what I've seen so far. Still, you're just building off what you set up in the last match. Linoone, Throat Chop!"

Rushing in a straight line towards Idina, Mamiko's Linoone was dead-set on crushing its opponent's throat, if such an organ existed in a Froslass. Anticipating the attack, Idina simply phased away in the hailstorm, causing Linoone to get confused about which direction it should head in.

Seizing the opportunity, Reina played 'Let It Go' on her trumpet, and an Ice Beam emerged from behind Linoone, who barely managed to repeatedly dodge as Idina's attack chased it around the battlefield. Before Linoone could realize, it had been trapped in a wall of ice as a result of Idina's careful planning, which Reina took advantage of by playing Vivaldi's Winter on her trumpet.

Creating a Blizzard, Mamiko noted that Reina seemed to rely on the weather conditions to dictate the flow of battle, so she decided to throw a wrench in her opponent's plans. "Linoone, use Sunny Day!"

With a short growl, an orb of light appeared above Mamiko's Linoone before shooting up into the sky, displacing the hailstorm Demi had set up with a bout of intense sunlight. The change of weather somewhat diluted the Blizzard sent Linoone's way, but it still packed a punch even in its weakened form.

Since Blizzard wouldn't work well in sunlight and Normal-types were immune to Ghost-type moves, this current scenario limited Reina's potential options, but she still had one that could be effective under these circumstances. Playing the main motif of Holst's Jupiter on her trumpet, bolts of lightning shot out from a sphere of electricity Idina was building up in her hands, arcing towards Linoone from all directions.

"Use Dig!" Mamiko commanded as she saw her Linoone slowly being constricted in Idina's electric cage. Burrowing underground, it was able to avoid the full wrath of Idina's Thunderbolt, but this also caused it to be trapped inside a dead end with only one way out.

At this stage of the battle, Reina was getting tense. Even one slight misjudgment about Linoone's location could cost her the battle, so her next attack would make or break the rest of the fight. Thinking about where Linoone would appear next, Reina couldn't come to a fulfilling conclusion, so she decided to go for a 'frozen earth' strategy, playing 'Let It Go' again to command Idina to freeze the ground solid.

The entire ground being covered in frost made it impossible for Linoone to come out anywhere except from the hole it initially dug, so Idina waited at that entrance until it finally emerged, at which point Reina slipped in the Icium Z she had into her Z-Power Ring, giving her starter Pokémon the chance to finish this match with her strongest move.

Doing the strange gestures as energy flowed from her to Idina, Reina then watched as Mamiko's Linoone was simply obliterated by Idina's Z-Move, having nowhere left to run. Collapsing from the attack's sheer power, Linoone felt the last of its strength give out just as the miniature sun it created disappeared from the battlefield.

"Linoone is unable to battle." The referee announced.

"Well, there goes your icy advantage." Mamiko commented while recalling her fainted Linoone. "Unless you plan on being the next Mirai Sezaki, I hope you have Pokémon of other types. In terms of battlefield advantages, we're both back to square one, so this could swing either way."

"Thankfully, I do." Reina responded, knowing that Idina didn't have the advantage Demi had set up anymore. Switching her out, Reina wanted to see how her newest partner would fare in his first Gym battle. "Go for baroque, Handel!"

Kumiko and Mamiko simultaneously groaned at the terrible music pun Reina made as she sent Handel out, not expecting the normally serious girl to crack jokes like this. Still, Mamiko was a Gym Leader with a certain degree of professionalism, so she quickly recovered and moved on to her next Pokémon. "Play it loud, Kumiko!"

It was now Kumiko's turn to cringe horribly upon hearing her name being used as the nickname of her older sister's Dubwool again, especially since her desired would definitely feel uncomfortable facing off against a Pokémon bearing her name. Silently praying that this match would end quickly, Kumiko watched as the next battle began.

"Kumiko, Body Slam!" Mamiko ordered. Rolling towards Handel, the general strategy that Mamiko relied on with Kumiko the Dubwool seemed to be the same in this battle, using her special ability of a passive Protect to attack while sustaining no damage from any possible retaliation.

"Handel, use Scald on the floor!" Spraying hot water onto the ground, this caused its friction to be greatly reduced, which was the effect Reina wanted despite not hitting her opponent's Pokémon directly.

Unable to coordinate herself properly now that the floor was slippery, Kumiko the Dubwool staggered as she continued barreling in Handel's direction with limited success, ultimately veering off course when she hit a particularly wet spot. With her opponent unprepared, Reina played 'Let It Go' on her trumpet, moving in for an attack.

Using an attack that Idina and his Trainer taught him, Handel fired an Ice Beam in Kumiko the Dubwool's direction, blocking the path in front of her. Though she had built up a lot of momentum during her non-stop rolling, it still wasn't enough for Kumiko the Dubwool to shatter the frozen barrier, causing her to roll up it and into the air.

Still, Mamiko had a plan in mind. "Kumiko, Wild Charge!"

Her wool lighting up with electricity in midair, Kumiko the Dubwool landed with a sizzling sound, all the built-up charge being dispersed in the water across the battlefield, turning it into a super-effective hazard zone for Handel. If he so much as tried to approach or use the water there, it would spell doom for him.

However, the main problem Handel faced right now was Kumiko the Dubwool headed directly towards him, all charged-up with electricity. Caught between a rock and a hard place, Handel was about to resign to his fate when Reina played Holst's Saturn on her trumpet.

Realizing what his Trainer wanted him to do, Handel spat out a Mud Shot at Kumiko the Dubwool. Though this did no damage due to the Protect shielding her, it was still enough to cause all her stored-up charge to fizzle out, reducing her approaching attack to a normal Body Slam.

Playing Handel's (the composer's) Water Music on her trumpet, Reina gave Handel (the Feebas) the order to shoot out a Scald at Kumiko the Dubwool, propelling him away while giving her a Burn from the hot water. Switching to Holst's Saturn again, Handel then fired several more Mud Shots at the ground, causing it to get sticky and more slippery while getting rid of the electricity in the water.

Despite how Reina had managed to manipulate the battlefield to give her and Kumiko a severe disadvantage, Mamiko decided to risk it all on one last attack, hoping to take her comparatively weaker opponent down with this move. "Kumiko, Giga Impact!"

Massive amounts of energy coursing through her body, Kumiko the Dubwool shot towards Handel at breakneck speed, knowing that this attack couldn't be dodged. Even with this powerful attack coming, Reina still stood her ground while giving out a single-word order. "Endure."

Slamming into Handel with all her might, Kumiko the Dubwool toppled backwards as she felt all the strength from her body drain away, powerless to react or continuing to maintain her Protect. As her desired outcome presented itself, Reina gave one last command to the barely conscious Handel. "Use Scald again."

Hosing Kumiko the Dubwool down with hot water, this was all that it took for Handel to take her out of action, compounded with the passive damage from her previous Burn.

"Dubwool is unable to battle." The referee announced.

Relieved that Reina didn't drag out the battle for too long, Kumiko's fear of hearing Mamiko order around (or at least the Dubwool bearing her name) was finally alleviated. As Mamiko recalled her Dubwool (Kumiko would never refer to her sister's Pokémon by her own name), Reina withdrew Handel as well and switched him out for Eurydice, her last Pokémon that hadn't been involved in the Gym battle.

"Slap out some beats, Cinccino!" Mamiko called out as she sent out her last Pokémon. Once her Cinccino had made sure that its surrounding area was neat and tidy, Mamiko made the first move. "Use Tail Slap!"

As Cinccino dashed towards Eurydice, Reina knew that it was a tough opponent from Kumiko's battle, so she needed extra power if she wanted victory to fully be in her grasp. Mega Evolving Eurydice, Reina then put her trumpet to her lips, playing 'Ave Maria' as Eurydice blasted out a Psychic at Mamiko's Cinccino, sending it flying away.

"Now's the chance! Bullet Seed!" Spraying a flurry of seeds at Eurydice, Mamiko's Cinccino magnified the distance between itself and its opponent by combining its move and pre-existing knockback to its advantage, though this was what Reina wanted as well.

As Eurydice fired another Psychic, Mamiko was seriously impressed by the punches that Reina was packing. While she certainly was surprised at how competent Kumiko was at Pokémon training and battling, Reina's skills were on another level altogether, being able to think long-term and create strategies based on her foresight.

From what Mamiko observed, this was the main difference between Kumiko and Reina. Kumiko's battling style focused more on raw power applied through effective type matchups and the abilities of her Pokémon, while Reina was more of a planner who liked to think things out. No wonder they fit each other perfectly.

Shifting her attention back to the battle, Mamiko wasn't surprised that Reina had gained an advantage this early on. While her Cinccino had the dubious honor of facing both Kumiko and Reina's Mega Evolved Pokémon in battle, Mamiko could see that this battle had already been decided from how dominating Reina was.

Refusing to bow down without a challenge, Mamiko hoped that Cinccino could still put up a fight, especially considering how easily Reina was able to negate most of its attacks with her Gardevoir's Psychic abilities, shoving away both her Cinccino and any incoming attacks easily.

"Tail Slap again!" Despite knowing that it had a high chance of being futile, Mamiko needed to give any challenger a good fight as part of her duties of a Gym Leader, and Reina was no different than any other Trainer in that regard.

Confused as to why Mamiko would try a second Tail Slap knowing that it would result in her Cinccino being thrown away by Psychic again, Reina played 'Ave Maria' and expected the same outcome to repeat itself. However, just as Eurydice was about to launch her attack, Mamiko gave her next command. "Rock Blast!"

Slamming massive rocks into Eurydice, Mamiko's Cinccino finally managed to get some clean hits on her for the first time in the fight, relying on the element of surprise to momentarily turn the tide of battle, even though it was just for a while.

After only a few hits, Eurydice had regained enough awareness to pinpoint Cinccino's location, and quickly fired out a Psychic right when Cinccino was about to throw another rock in her face, returning the favor in its direction.

With that decisive blow, Mamiko's Cinccino fell to the ground, having been defeated by an opponent with greater strength and vastly more skill. Mentally accepting the outcome, Mamiko could see why her younger sister had fallen in love with Reina. There was something about her that was quite irresistible.

"Cinccino is unable to battle. The challenger emerges victorious!" the referee announced.

Walking over to Mamiko to receive her Gym Badge, the first part of the Gym Leader's congratulatory speech was relatively normal, but Reina was completely caught off-guard by what she said next.

"That was a good battle you gave me there, Reina! Though I've got nothing extra you still get the Mixolydian Badge as a reward for defeating me." Mamiko commended, then her voice dropped to being slightly above a whisper. "With that, you've held up your end of the deal, so you get a date with Kumiko. Go get 'em!"

Reina could only blush heavily upon hearing the last three words.

* * *

Walking into Mamiko's salon the next day, Reina was ready for her makeover before her date with Kumiko. Somehow, Mamiko had the necessary clout to get reservations at various establishments without much hassle or delay, meaning that she had arranged for the date to be held tomorrow with Reina's approval.

As Reina pushed open the salon's door, she thought back to Mamiko giving her the date's rundown yesterday while Kumiko was in the shower. With the quality and number of events she listed, Reina could only wonder just how much money Mamiko was spending to hook them up together. Was this all just sisterly love, or did Mamiko know something Reina didn't?

Upon getting her first look into the salon's interior, Reina was shocked with what she saw. While Mamiko had promised her that she would close the salon down for the day for Reina's makeover, there was one other person inside apart from the stylists.

"Kumiko, why are you here?" Reina asked in confusion. "Didn't Mamiko say you were still at her apartment?"

* * *

A/N: In case you don't know who Mamiko's friends are, Tomoe Oreki is the older sister of Hotarou Oreki from Hyouka, Touka Takanashi is the older sister of Rikka Takanashi from Love, Chuunibyou and Other Delusions, and Izumi Nase is the older sister of Hiroomi and Mitsuki Nase from Kyoukai no Kanata/Beyond the Boundary.

In other news, the date arc begins next week. Stay tuned to see if our lovebirds get together!


	37. Chapter 37: Ai Wo Mitsuketa Basho - 1

Seeing her special one sitting in a chair and getting her hair done really threw Reina into a loop. Mamiko had previously assured Reina that while she was getting prepared at the salon for her date with her desired, Kumiko would be safely kept occupied back at her apartment to prevent any mishaps from happening. This was apparently not the case here.

"Reina? I was about to ask the same question!" Kumiko exclaimed, also surprised to see Reina at the salon. Gears were beginning to turn in Reina's mind about the full extent of Mamiko's machinations, but they soon ground to a halt when Kumiko's sister herself entered the salon from a back door.

"Oh, Reina. You've finally arrived." Mamiko smiled pleasantly at her, completely ignoring the Donphan in the room while motioning for Kumiko's stylist to shield her from Reina's point of view. "Now, let's get you sorted. We've got a lot to do in the few hours left before your date, so let's start your makeover!"

Ushering Reina to the nearest chair, Mamiko then began to wash her hair with a portable basin (Reina was surprised something like that existed) as she began to strike up a conversation.

"So, I bet you're really excited for your date tonight~" Mamiko began to tease Reina, causing her face to heat up with embarrassment even as her hair was being rinsed by cool water. "With everything I've set up for you, I'm sure that you and Kumiko will have a wonderful time!"

"Speaking of Kumiko, what was she doing here?" Reina questioned, suspicious that Mamiko had lied to her. "Didn't you say that you would keep her busy back at your apartment? Does she know about all this?"

"Kumiko? What Kumiko? She obviously isn't here." Mamiko vehemently denied. Reina tilted her head to see that Kumiko wasn't in the other salon chair anymore, most likely carted off to parts unknown. "Anyways, you remember the schedule for tonight, right? I don't want your date to be ruined because you forgot to do something."

"Yes. Pick up Kumiko at 5 pm in a self-driving limousine you arranged, go on a sightseeing tour of the city in said limo, have dinner at 6 pm at the restaurant you booked, attend a play at 8 pm using the tickets you gave me, and spend the night together in a hotel room you reserved for us after that." Reina recounted, then narrowed her eyes. "Wouldn't staying at your apartment be much simpler? It's more economical and convenient that way."

"I know I'm spending more money than I should, but don't you think it's more romantic that way?" Mamiko mused. "After you're finished with everything, you'll get to rest in the lap of luxury together with Kumiko all by yourselves. Wouldn't that be the cherry on the top of this entire experience?"

"I'll have to politely agree with you…" Reina's face turned even more red upon reading between the lines. Assuming that the date went smoothly, Kumiko and herself had a good chance of realizing how much they liked each other, possibly even becoming a couple after that. Knowing what couples like to do alone after a particularly romantic date, Reina started to wonder if that was the outcome Mamiko wanted.

"That's great!" Mamiko replied with a smile, finishing up with washing Reina's hair. "Next up is giving you a haircut!"

Sliding the portable sink away, Mamiko dried off Reina's hair with a towel before getting her hairdressing equipment from a nearby counter, beginning to trim Reina's long hair with a pair of scissors. As she heard her hair being snipped away bit by bit, Reina then realized she hadn't had a proper haircut since she started her journey, only bothering to trim her bangs if they got too long.

"What are our Pokémon going to do during our date?" Reina asked. Nowhere in Mamiko's plan did she mention anything about their Pokémon, and Reina didn't want them to stay cooped up in their Pokéballs for the entire night. "Can we leave them somewhere or have someone take care of them?"

"Oh, I was just thinking about that as well. Since I was quite busy organizing everything else for your date, it completely slipped my mind" Mamiko replied, using her comb to straighten out Reina's long hair before cutting it. "You know what? I'll let them out of their Pokéballs in my apartment and make sure they don't cause any trouble for you two. Is that alright with you?"

"I'm OK with that." While Reina would have preferred a Day Care or Nursery, she also had to consider that they most likely wouldn't be open at night, even in such a lively area like Minant City. "Do you have anything else to ask me or tell me about?"

"Well, nothing except that I've finished trimming your hair." Holding up a mirror so that Reina could see the back of her head, Mamiko saw a look of satisfaction on Reina's face, clearly happy that her hair was much neater and orderly after so long on the road. "Next up, it's time to choose your dress for the night!"

Opening the door she previously walked out of, Mamiko led Reina into a corridor with many doors lining both sides. Stopping at a door near the other side from which they entered, Mamiko took out a keychain and fingered through various keys before finding the one she wanted. Unlocking the door and pushing it open, what greeted Reina was the largest treasure trove of dresses she had ever seen.

Stacked from wall-to-ceiling of this gigantic walk-in closet were dresses of all colors and shapes mounted on rotating racks with shoes hung beneath them, with what seemed to be a large touchscreen panel at the back of the room to select outfits, virtually try them on, and bring them over to the wearer. Reina had been expecting the best from a stylist trained in Lumiose City, but this setup was clearly next level.

"How do you like my collection?" Mamiko was proud of all the apparel she had amassed over the years. "While I mainly rent out these dresses to earn some extra money on the side, you can pick any one you like for tonight. Don't hesitate and feel free to go wild!"

With that, Mamiko left the walk-in closet with a smile on her face, leaving Reina all alone with a collection of dresses. After selecting her three sizes and shoe size on the touchscreen's initial menu, Reina was then presented with an assortment of dresses and shoes for her to choose from, with the system even recommending certain combinations of clothing based on color and theme.

Scrolling over the many options she had, Reina mentally considered all the dresses on offer one by one. While the more daring and revealing designs were sure to accentuate her figure in the right places and knock Kumiko off her feet, Reina didn't want to get any looks from people other than Kumiko during their date, so she decided against them almost immediately.

Taking a look at period dresses next, Reina thought that while they certainly looked high-class and had their cultural appeal, Kumiko would most likely mistake her for an Auto Memory Doll from the Leiden region or an extra in a historical movie, so she shelved that idea as well.

Moving on to more modern dresses, Reina found that they were more to her liking, especially the ones that looked simple and had barely any patterns. While wearing an extravagant dress definitely had its own merits, Reina wanted Kumiko's eyes to completely be fixated on her rather than what she was wearing.

Deciding to go for a purple dress to match the color of her eyes, Reina then filtered out the results to match her desired. Looking at the remaining options, one particular choice caught her attention.

The dress that Reina was captivated by was so pale that it looked more white than purple, almost like it was tinted that way by an invisible ultraviolet light. While it was strapless, it still had short sleeves made out of a white semi-transparent material with a floral pattern, which also served as the top part of the dress.

Since it checked all of her boxes, Reina instantly knew she wanted to wear this dress tonight, even though she still had many options left. Pressing on the 'More Info' section for this dress on the touchscreen, she saw that the system recommended pairing it with a pink flower hair decoration and glass heels. Though the accessories were quite unwieldy, Reina decided to go with them nonetheless.

Trying out the complete outfit virtually, Reina couldn't help but stare at how beautiful she was in that choice of clothing, even when it was being digitally superimposed on her. If she looked that good already, then Kumiko would seriously be impressed when she wore the actual thing in front of her.

Pressing the button to call the outfit down, Reina watched as practically the entire room whirred into action, circular racks rotating as they shifted to deliver her choice of clothing. After a short while, the mechanical noises began to slow down, and Reina's clothes appeared in front of her right as everything stopped moving.

"So you've picked that dress and its recommended accessories? Seeing as how it matches your eyes perfectly, it should suit you well!" Reina turned around to see Mamiko standing behind her as she took the outfit from its rack. "I can't wait to see how Kumiko will react when she sees you in that! She's definitely going to get a nosebleed at this rate!"

"When did you get here?" Reina was getting increasingly suspicious of the racket Mamiko was running behind her back. "Were you spying on me all this time? Or did you sneak in without me knowing?"

"I've got this alert system on my phone that notifies me when I'm not the one using the clothes chooser." Mamiko answered. "That's how I knew when you finished picking out your outfit. With that out of the way, you should get changed before we move on to the final step: makeup."

Escorting Reina to another room in the seemingly endless corridor, Mamiko opened its door to reveal a row of changing rooms inside with all the curtains open. As there was nobody else inside aside from them, Reina simply decided to use the stall closest to the entrance, drawing the curtain shut while Mamiko waited outside.

Now in her own private space, Reina began to undress herself. Taking off her shoes and placing them beside her, Reina undid the straps on her pale blue dress, leaving her in her underwear as it slid down to the floor, giving her the chance to take a good look at herself.

Since journeying across the region was an extremely time-consuming endeavor, Reina rarely had the time to examine her own figure, only doing so when she stepped out of the bath, and even then she only bothered with a quick glance. This was the first time in a long while she had seen herself in the mirror for more than a few seconds.

Feeling her breasts with her hands, Reina thought back to the time in the hot springs when Kumiko clumsily tripped on the wet floor, causing her face to be buried between them by accident. Though that was an extremely awkward and embarrassing scenario in the moment, Reina still couldn't let go of the feeling she felt back then. Somewhere in the back of her mind, she yearned to smother Kumiko in her assets again.

Gazing at the area around her stomach, Reina was pleased to discover that travelling around the region by foot had shrunk her belly, an area of her body she had been self-conscious about for years. Using her hands to squeeze her abdomen, Reina could immediately tell that the fat there had disappeared gradually over her time on the road.

Satisfied with the shape and appearance her body, Reina began to put on the dress she chose from Mamiko's collection, feeling the soft material it was made out of wash over her in a deluge of cool smoothness, enveloping her in its purplish-white fabric. After she slipped on the glass heels, Reina looked at herself again in the mirror, unable to draw herself away from how gorgeous she looked in this choice of clothing.

"Reina, are you done yet?" Mamiko asked from outside. "The makeup process is going to take longer than everything else, so you need to get out after you're done."

"OK, I'm coming." Deciding to clip on the flower hair decoration after she was finished with the makeup, Reina drew open the changing stall's curtain, her regular clothes and shoes in her hands.

"You really do look nice in those clothes. Good choice!" Mamiko complimented upon seeing Reina. "Now, let's go back outside for your makeup. After that, I'll give you everything you need for tonight and send you on your merry way!"

Going back to the salon's main room, Mamiko then took Reina's regular clothes and shoes away, stowing them inside a cloth bag before putting it on an adjacent chair. Opening up a makeup kit, Mamiko began to work on Reina's face with everything inside, with Reina slowly getting entranced by the hypnotic way Mamiko's hands weaved around her face.

Almost dozing off several times due to how boring this process was, Reina wondered for a moment why Mamiko wasn't talking to her while doing makeup before realizing that she most likely was too focused on the task at hand to pay attention to anything else. Judging by how precisely Mamiko was prodding her face with makeup tools, this was most likely the case.

As soon as she couldn't feel Mamiko touch her face anymore, Reina breathed a sigh of relief, then looked at herself in the mirror. While she was a person that others normally considered conventionally attractive, Mamiko's makeup skills took her beauty to the next level.

Thin lines of pitch-black mascara contrasted with the whites of her eyes, while also serving to accentuate her pristine purple irises. Any blemishes on her face were covered up with concealer so well that she forgot where they were, with her lips smacking with the bright red shine of fresh lipstick. Even by her own rigorous standards, Reina thought that she was seriously gorgeous right now.

"Well, how do you like it?" Mamiko asked while tucking away the last of her makeup tools. "Feel like you're ready tonight after everything so far?"

"Mm, this makeup really puts the Cherubi on top. Thank you very much for all you've done." Reina replied in gratitude, then suddenly remembered a small detail about her makeup. "I noticed you didn't apply rouge on my cheeks. Why is that?"

"It's because I think you look better without it." Mamiko explained, causing Reina to take another look at herself in the mirror. "When I was talking with Kumiko, she said that you resembled a yuki-onna, and your choice of Pokémon during our Gym Battle really reinforced that thought, so I decided to go with that theme for your makeup. Don't you agree?"

"Kumiko's mentioned that I look and act like a snow queen, so I'll have to agree with you." Reina answered with a smile on her face. "With your clothes and makeup, I'll make such a good first impression on Kumiko that she'll be swept off her feet in no time at all!"

* * *

Standing outside Mamiko's apartment, Reina could feel the Butterfree in her stomach using Hurricane over and over again. While Mamiko had gone over everything one more time after giving her what she needed for tonight, Reina was still extremely anxious about the first step: mustering up the courage to knock on the door.

Taking deep breaths, Reina could feel her well-trained diaphragm methodically moving to help her breath out the large amounts of air she inhaled, but that was still doing little to soothe the worries she was facing directly. Wondering why she was currently feeling so nervous when the date was just a well-planned and straightforward affair, Reina thought of ways to calm herself down when she remembered every time she had to play a solo on her trumpet.

No matter how easy or complex the solo in front of her was, Reina always felt uneasy during her first time going over one, despite her complete confidence in her own trumpet playing skills. This was because she knew that this would eventually become her time to shine on the stage, her chance to let the world know how good she was, and she only had one chance of doing so in that instant.

To make sure she wouldn't waste the time she had on the spotlight, Reina relentlessly charged ahead in pursuit of perfection, practicing nonstop just for that little moment she had to show it off. While she didn't have the luxury of time here to diminish her fears, Reina still had the unshakable faith in her ability to see things through, so she did the most aggressive action she could think of and knocked on Mamiko's door without hesitation.

Realizing what she just did after the surge of adrenaline left her, Reina's panicked breaths became more rapid as she now knew she had crossed a line there was no turning back from. Her senses heightened from all the energy running through her body, Reina could hear footsteps approaching the door before it opened, revealing a casually dressed Kumiko staring at her.

"Reina… what?" the words escaped Kumiko's mouth before she covered it with her hands, quickly slamming the door in front of her while running back into the apartment and calling for Mamiko. Reina was afraid she had done something wrong before the door opened again, this time with Mamiko answering.

"Hi, Reina!" Mamiko smiled. "Remember what I said about this date being a surprise for Kumiko? Well, I'm afraid that I may have made it _too_ much of a surprise. Excuse me while I touch up her makeup and get her dressed properly for tonight, so please wait in the limousine until I'm done with everything in about half an hour, OK?"

With no reply from the currently shocked Reina, Mamiko decided to take that as a yes, closing the door while Reina was still processing what had just happened. Mindlessly shuffling back into the elevator she had come out of not even five minutes earlier, Reina rode it back down to the ground floor and went into the self-driving limousine that Mamiko rented for them for the night.

Praying to every deity she could think of while sitting in the limo, Reina hoped that she hadn't ruined the date before it even began due to her rash course of action. After waiting for some time, she got a message from Mamiko on her phone (how did Mamiko get her phone number?) saying that Kumiko was already finished with everything, and that Reina should stand outside the limo and receive her.

Opening the limo's door and stepping outside, Reina tried to make herself as presentable as possible to impress Kumiko, trying several different poses before ultimately deciding to be herself, standing graciously in front of the building's door. Hearing the door creak open, Reina held her breath before seeing Kumiko emerge, and all that time waiting immediately paid off upon seeing how her special one looked.

Despite not spending all day in the salon like her, Reina thought that Mamiko had pulled off a miracle with Kumiko's appearance in the short time she had to fix her up. Wearing a light pink short-sleeved dress with a ribbon tied below the front of her left shoulder and white elbow length gloves, Reina's heart seriously began to race when she saw that Kumiko was also wearing the same type of glass heels as her.

Shifting her attention from Kumiko's slender legs to her face, Reina saw that Mamiko's makeup skills had worked wonders on her face, elevating its natural beauty to another level altogether. While Reina could see that Kumiko had mostly undergone the same procedures as she did, the extra rouge on her cheeks really livened her up, with several pearl-like decorations dotting her hair and a multi-colored floral ornament topping everything off.

"Wow, Reina… now that I've got a better view of you, you really look stunning." Kumiko breathed out, even though Reina was also entranced by how gorgeous the girl of her dreams looked at the same time. Continuing to admire each other's beauty, Kumiko and Reina gazed at each other in bedazzlement until Reina realized she had to get on with the date.

Not wanting to keep Kumiko waiting any longer, Reina swept her hand down in a grandiose gesture before opening the limo's door, motioning for Kumiko to get inside. Waiting for a while, Reina wondered why Kumiko hadn't entered the limo yet when she saw her special one's shocked face, which she would need to snap her out of.

"After you, my dear." Reina politely declared, causing Kumiko's face to turn red as she stepped into the limo, with Reina herself following soon after and closing the door behind her. Pushing a button to begin the guided tour of Minant City, Reina watched as the limo's roof shimmered and became transparent, allowing for an unabridged view of the entire city through the marvel of modern technology.

As the limo began to cruise through the bustling streets, Reina found herself tuning out the informative commentary about the landmarks they passed by, instead finding herself strangely fixated on Kumiko, who was currently looking out at all the lights switching on as night fell on the city.

Shuffling closer to Kumiko, Reina felt her ongoing anxiousness about this date persist, but she ignored all the fears being cooped up inside her and continued to advance, wanting nothing to stop her from reaching the girl she always longed for.

With her thigh now only a few millimeters away from Kumiko's, Reina was about to make the final step forward when a pang of worry struck her. What if Kumiko flinched or shied away because she was too close? What if Kumiko simply was too bored about this date to look at her? What if Kumiko wasn't the sort of person who liked physical contact?

All that and much more swam through Reina's mind just before she could bridge the gap, causing her to become completely still in the process, her desires fighting against her insecurities, with neither side willing to budge in the struggle. At this point, Reina was starting to wonder if this was the closest she would ever get to Kumiko while they were both awake.

However, the frozen ice queen was soon defrosted by a warm touch over her hand as Reina realized that Kumiko used her own hand to cover hers. Profusely blushing at the gesture, Reina was thankful the makeup Mamiko applied covered up most of her visible feelings, but she was relieved when Kumiko also blushed as well.

Taking this as a cue to shuffle closer to Kumiko, Reina closed the tiny remaining distance between them as she felt Kumiko's body heat diffuse into her own body, her clenched-up feelings finally released in an internal moment of catharsis. With the last of her doubts deserting her, Reina quickly mustered up the courage to look Kumiko in the eye, but it was her special one who spoke first.

"Reina, have you done this before?" Kumiko asked while awkwardly trying to avoid eye contact. "I mean, everything you've done so far seems so professional and cool, and you seem to do everything without missing a beat. Going on this date is like a dream come true for me."

"I haven't gone on a date before, so this is my first time. How about you?" Reina replied. For some reason, Kumiko had missed all the obvious signs that Reina had come close to screwing up their date numerous times, and had instead thought of her as some sort of invincible goddess of captivation and charm.

"It's my first date as well." Kumiko answered. "Truth be told, I'm glad that we're both doing this for the first time, since that means we've got a lot of room for errors. Not that you need it anyways with how well you've pulled all this off."

Hearing that Kumiko had such a high opinion of her put Reina into a frantic state, as she was still trying to reconcile her special one's compliment with how she had narrowly avoided butchering every moment of this date. Still, she did her best to smile back at Kumiko in gratitude, overjoyed that her desired still thought of her in a positive light.

Checking how much of the automated city tour they had left, Reina was surprised to discover they were only a quarter of the way through everything this route had to offer upon looking at the screen. With the narrator continuing to endlessly drone on, Reina muted it before selecting a music app on the car's dashboard and scrolled through a selection of music before finding a track she liked.

"Kumiko, is this song alright with you?" Reina asked, not wanting the girl of her dreams to feel uncomfortable with her choice of music. With a nod from Kumiko, Reina pressed play on the screen, and let the classic love song's music set the mood for them.

Des yeux qui font baisser les miens (A gaze that make me lower my own)  
Un rire qui se perd sur sa bouche (A laugh that is lost on the lips)  
Voila le portrait sans retouche (That is the un-retouched portrait)  
De l'homme auquel j'appartiens (Of the person to whom I belong)

Though the singer was clearly singing about being attracted to a man, Reina didn't see any problem with its themes about love also applying to same-sex couples as well. Nudging closer to Kumiko, Reina suddenly had the urge to lay her head on her special one's shoulder, even though she wasn't feeling sleepy at all.

Going with her instincts, Reina let her neck muscles loosen up as her head fell towards Kumiko's shoulder, taking her desired by surprise. To her pleasure, Kumiko responded in kind by laying her head on Reina's own, and the two girls stayed that way as their car cruised through the city.

Both of them enjoying the moment they were currently sharing, Kumiko and Reina lost track of time in each other's company until they both heard the limo's automatic narration software make an announcement. "You have arrived at your first destination. Please alight now."

Realizing they had arrived at the restaurant Mamiko had given them a reservation for, Reina opened the limo's door before gesturing for her special one to follow. After Kumiko had alighted, the pair headed into the restaurant while holding hands, somehow forgetting to untangle them beforehand.

"Excuse me, we have a reservation under the name 'Kousaka' for two." Reina spoke to the attendant at the counter. When Mamiko had set up the date, she had made sure to book the reservation under Reina's name to preserve the element of surprise for Kumiko. After all, it wouldn't be fun knowing that your older sister played matchmaker with your feelings.

"Of course, this way please." The attendant politely responded. Showing them to their seats, Reina and Kumiko were pleased to discover that their table was outdoors on a wide-open terrace. With the cool evening breeze blowing through, sitting outside would certainly be an enjoyable experience.

With the attendant giving them a menu each and departing, Kumiko and Reina saw that it was only composed of a single page listing out the soups, appetizers, entrees, desserts, and drinks. Remembering that Mamiko would pay her back the amount she spent on this dinner, Reina told Kumiko that she would be paying for everything tonight, so her special one wouldn't have to worry about how much this meal would cost.

Raising her hand, Reina stated her order to the approaching waiter. "I'll have a Crawdaunt soup, Tauros steak tartare, Wishiwashi meuniere, a crème brulee, and sparkling citrus juice please."

"I'll have the corn soup, salad lyonnaise, the cassoulet, the housemade vanilla ice cream, and sparkling water please." Though Kumiko thought she may have bungled some of the pronunciations, she was thankful for the advice she got about ordering at a fancy restaurant.

As the waiter left, Kumiko turned to Reina. "Wow, I'm surprised at how far you've gone for this date. I mean, the limo was certainly impressive, but getting seats at a fancy restaurant? Do you know some important people here?"

"A few." Reina answered the bare minimum she possibly could, not wanting to give away the secret of Mamiko sponsoring this date. As Reina wondered how to proceed with this conversation, she decided to change the subject to prevent Kumiko from asking more questions. "I forgot to mention this earlier, but you look stunning in your dress."

"Thank you." Kumiko blushed at Reina's compliment. "To tell you the truth, this dress was actually a gift from Mamiko as a reward for defeating her in my Gym Battle. She also gave me a haircut and some makeup supplies after noticing I wasn't taking care of my appearance when travelling."

"Your sister seems like a responsible sibling that always looks out for you." Reina was slightly envious of Kumiko having an older sister she could rely on. "I wish I had someone like her in my life."

"Well, Mamiko wasn't always like that." Kumiko admitted. "Before she decided to go to Kalos and train to become a beautician there, she actually wasn't doing that well in college and was about to drop out. It was through some stroke of luck that she convinced our parents to let her change her career path, but everything somehow worked out in the end. Ooh, the appetizers and soup are here!"

"I see." Reina replied in response to both Kumiko's comments about Mamiko and the fact that the first part of their meals had arrived. Digging in and enjoying the first-class food, Kumiko and Reina proceeded to have light conversation between courses, entertaining each other under the moonlight.

As the last of their desserts were slowly being digested in their stomachs after being washed down by their drinks, Reina noticed that it was almost time to leave the restaurant for the final part of the date. Signaling to Kumiko, the pair headed to the counter, where Reina paid for their meal using the money Mamiko gave her earlier.

Going back to the limo, Reina noticed that it had smartly parked itself in one of the restaurant's parking spaces, and quickly unlocked itself when she grasped her hand around its door handle. Letting Kumiko step in first before boarding herself, Reina then selected the theatre from the list of destinations Mamiko had set.

With the limo now back on the road again, Reina decided to continue where they left off as she cuddled into Kumiko while the song she previously selected started playing out of the limo's speakers again.

Et, dès que je l'apercois (As soon as I notice you)  
Alors je sens en moi (I feel inside me)  
Mon coeur qui bat (My heart beating)

After a short while, the limo came to a stop. Looking at the GPS map, Reina confirmed that they were indeed in front of the theatre. Alighting the limo with Kumiko, the pair stepped into the cool air of the ventilated theatre blowing at them from its opened doors.

Giving the pair of tickets she had received from Mamiko to the usher, Reina was then directed alongside Kumiko to a private viewing box. Picking up two programs before going in, Reina handed one to Kumiko, who proceeded to read the title.

"_L'Oiseau bleu_, or The Blue Bird." Kumiko noted. "Sounds interesting. Have you seen this play before?"

"No. It's my first time as well, but a friend recommended it to me." Reina replied, masking Mamiko's involvement yet again. While she had heard of a children's book and piece for concert band called Liz and the Blue Bird before, the play and the book were completely unrelated save for their shared use of the 'blue bird of happiness' motif.

Making themselves comfortable in their seats, Reina and Kumiko observed that the private box had the best view in the house, with a up-close-and-personal view of everything that would be happening on stage. Reina thought to herself that Mamiko must have had a lot of favours saved up if she was able to arrange a date like this.

With the lights dimming, Reina watched as the play began. While she would normally focus her undivided attention completely on the play, Reina also kept an eye on Kumiko the entire time, wanting to observe how her special one reacted to the events unfolding on stage.

As the play progressed, Reina saw that Kumiko seemed quite bored, her eyes fluttering open and shut in a state of drowsiness several times. Approaching the climax, Reina was fully invested in the play's melodrama and wanted to see how it would end, but her heart still prioritized Kumiko. However, the girl of her dreams had fallen asleep at this pivotal moment, unable to immerse herself in the play like Reina.

Reina was starting to feel distressed. If Kumiko had gotten this bored, then she would most likely think that Reina hadn't had her best interests in mind when planning this date, and wouldn't trust her enough to go on another one even if Reina apologized for this mishap. Kumiko might even feel that she wasn't worthy of her grace!

Racking her brain for possible solutions, Reina completely ignored the play's tipping point, more concerned about her special on instead. A deluge of thoughts washed through her mind with only one goal: make Kumiko Oumae feel loved.

Slowly but surely, an idea started to brew in Reina's mind, sparked by the thoughts she had earlier about Liz and the Blue Bird and a previous idea she had floated to Mamiko based on the best view of the city, which had been sadly rejected on account of not being elaborate enough.

Lightly tapping Kumiko on the shoulder to wake her up, Reina decided to bet everything on this all-or-nothing manoeuvre. The fate of this date would ultimately rest on whether or not Kumiko would accept this sudden change in plans.

Taking a deep breath, Reina made her request. "Kumiko, would you like to go on a hike with me?"


	38. Chapter 38: Ai Wo Mitsuketa Basho - 2

_Two days ago…_

"Sis, why are you asking to speak to me in private?" Kumiko asked her older sibling, who was currently reclining in her office chair. Was it because of family matters, or something else Reina couldn't know?

"Well, it's like this." Mamiko explained. "First, this is the first time I've seen you in the flesh for almost a year, so I just wanted to have a little private chat sister-to-sister to catch up with how you're doing. Second, it's about the girl you're with. Reina, was it?"

Upon hearing her sister mention Reina's name that casually, Kumiko promptly freaked out and blushed. "Bwahhh! You're being too informal here, sis! I haven't introduced her to you properly and you're already saying her name like she's a long-time friend of yours? You're taking this too far!"

Mamiko laughed. "Introduced? What is she, your girlfriend? Though judging on how close you two were when I saw you, she just might be. Is this a secret you're keeping from me, Kumiko?"

"N-no, you've got this all wrong." Kumiko was frantically trying to explain to Mamiko that the relationship between Reina and her wasn't what her sister thought it was. "Reina's just my friend, nothing more. Though I wish she could be…"

"Oh, is that how it is?" Mamiko asked teasingly, sensing and striking at Kumiko's vulnerabilities. "Right when I finally get the chance to meet her again, my little sister has got herself a crush! I can't believe it! Tell me, when did you start developing these feelings for Ms. Kousaka?"

"I think it was when she offered to share a bed with me at the Pokémon Center at the first day of my journey…" Kumiko answered in embarrassment, not realizing the weight of her words. Upon getting the gist of what she just said, her face turned even more red. "Ah! It's not like that! We didn't get up to anything there, just sleep together since there was one bed left! I'm still a virgin, OK?"

"Nobody's doubting you, Kumiko." Mamiko smiled reassuringly. "But when I saw you with Ms. Kousaka earlier, I almost thought you two were a couple by the way you acted around her. You rarely let your guard down that much around people, so she must mean a lot to you."

"Yeah, that's true." Kumiko admitted. "Do you remember how Shuichi made me afraid of Bug-type Pokémon when I was a kid? That caused me to faint when I was challenging the Bug-type Gym in Perto City, but Reina helped me to overcome my fears after I woke up and I got my Gym Badge in a rematch the next day. If it wasn't for her, then I may have well gave up at this point."

"You know I'm scared of Bug-types as well, so I get where you're coming from." Mamiko replied. "The Gym Leader of Perto City also mentioned a while back that someone fainted at her Gym, but I never would have guessed that it was you. I'll have to give Shuichi a good chewing out the next time I see him for scaring you that much."

A certain fish slap happened at this moment.

"Anyways, it's great to see you again, Kumiko." Mamiko continued. "Since mom told me you've been on the road for a while now, you really deserve a treat for making it here. Here's what I've got: you and Reina can stay at my apartment for as long as you're here, you'll get a haircut the day after tomorrow at the salon, and I'll give you a fancy dress from my collection you can keep and wear at fancy events. How does that sound?"

"A fancy dress? And why the day after tomorrow for the haircut?" Kumiko was confused at what Mamiko was offering her. "Are you planning something? That doesn't seem like something you'd do out of the kindness of your own heart."

"You're thinking too much again, Kumiko." Mamiko casually brushed off Kumiko's suspicions. "You never know when you'll need a fancy dress, and I'm thinking of challenging you and Reina tomorrow, which won't leave time for you to get a haircut."

"I think I understand where you're coming from, but the timing of everything still seems odd to me." Kumiko mused. "There's definitely more to this."

* * *

_Two days later, several hours before the date…_

As a stylist finished working on Kumiko's hair at Mamiko's salon, she heard the sound of the salon's front door opening. Since Mamiko told her she had closed down her salon for the day to give Kumiko some privacy (Kumiko didn't buy this excuse), Kumiko thought that Mamiko had arrived to check up on her. Turning her head as much as she could while her hair was being cut, the person that arrived left Kumiko shocked.

"Kumiko, why are you here?" Reina asked in confusion, clearly having no idea what was happening right now. "Didn't Mamiko say you were still at her apartment?"

"Reina? I was about to ask the same question!" Kumiko exclaimed, also surprised to see Reina at the salon. Did Mamiko also promise Reina a haircut as well? Or was this perfectly timed arrival the product of something else?

"Oh, Reina. You've finally arrived." Mamiko smiled pleasantly at Reina while emerging from the salon's back door, while also motioning for Kumiko's stylist to move and shield her from Reina's point of view. With Reina no longer in her limited field of vision, Kumiko couldn't hear the conversation between her and Mamiko, and just sat in her seat until her haircut was done with.

Once the stylist undid the cloth covering Kumiko, she was promptly escorted to a corridor behind the salon's back door, where she was then led into a room filled with dresses of all shapes and sizes mounted on rotating racks stretching from floor to ceiling, with various accessories hanging underneath them.

"This is Miss Mamiko's private collection of dresses." The stylist explained to Kumiko. "You can input your three sizes on the touchscreen display at the back, then it will show all the dresses available in those sizes, which you can filter using various options. The system will also automatically suggest some accessories to go with your outfit and allow you to try them on virtually, so you don't have to go through the hassle of changing clothes."

"Thank you very much." Once the stylist left the room, Kumiko was left to her own devices. Selecting her three sizes (she was extremely disappointed at her first one), she was then presented with a selection of dresses. Having completely no idea what she should pick, she aimlessly drifted around the menu, not even bothering to put on any filters for fear of limiting her options.

Gradually whittling down her choices to dresses that were either red or pink, Kumiko was about to put on a filter for red dresses only when an extremely light pink dress caught her eye. Though it was quite plain, having short sleeves with a thin ribbon tied below the front of its left shoulder, Kumiko saw the natural sophistication emerge from its simplicity, giving it a subtle air of elegance.

Checking to see what accessories it came with, Kumiko discovered the system suggested glass heels, several pearl-like decorations to dot her hair with, and a multi-colored floral hair ornament. Virtually trying it on, she was pleased that it looked just as well on her as she expected, so Kumiko selected it from the collection.

After the racks finished rotating to present her with the dress and its accessories, Kumiko picked them up as the door opened behind her to reveal Mamiko standing there, clearly having finished whatever business she had with Reina.

"Oh, looks like I've stepped in at the right time." Mamiko greeted her younger sister. "Even with so many dresses to choose from, your indecisive self still managed to pick one out! Do you like the choice you've made?"

"Mm, I'm happy with it." Kumiko answered. "From what I've seen, it seems to fit me quite well. Thanks for this present, Mamiko!"

"Anytime!" Mamiko cheerfully responded. "A fancy dress always comes in handy in moments where you're least expecting it, so it always pays off to be prepared!"

* * *

_Several hours later…_

Currently listening to music while lounging around on the couch in Mamiko's living room, Kumiko was enjoying herself in the moment when she heard a knock on the door. Shifting herself to an upright position and walking over to open it, Kumiko immediately assumed that Reina had returned from wherever she was.

While Mamiko had previously assured her younger sister that Reina needed to run some errands around the city during the day, Kumiko didn't really buy that story. If Reina needed to do something, then she would definitely tell Kumiko about it first, so Mamiko was definitely hiding something. Even if Mamiko wasn't lying to her, that still didn't explain what Reina was doing at the salon earlier.

Opening the door, Kumiko was completely caught off-guard by how Reina looked. Wearing an extremely light purple short-sleeved strapless dress with, glass heels, and a flower ornament adorning her hair, the girl of her dreams looked like she had just arrived from a fancy dinner party with the makeup she wore. Entranced by her desired's beauty, Kumiko could only hold her breath as she spoke in surprise.

"Reina… what?" The words escaped Kumiko's mouth before she covered it with her hands, quickly slamming the door in front of her while running back into the apartment and calling for Mamiko.

"Sis, Reina's at the door in a fancy dress!" Kumiko exclaimed in confusion to Mamiko, who was currently tidying up the bathroom. "What's happening? Can you go talk to her about why she's dressed like that? I don't know what to do now!"

"Relax, Kumiko. I was just about to do that." Mamiko tried to calm her younger sister down, knowing full well what she had planned. "For now, just sit here and wait for me. I'll be back shortly after I ask her about what happened."

With Mamiko leaving the bathroom, Kumiko was left on her own. Sitting down on the toilet's cover, she was afraid that her initial reaction to Reina's appearance had inadvertently scared away her special one. Worrying about how she would make it up to Reina, Kumiko was slightly shocked when Mamiko returned to the bathroom with a smile on her face.

"Guess what, Kumiko? I've got some good news for you!" Mamiko was pleased that everything was going to plan so far. "Reina's here because she wants to go on a date with you, and it looks like she isn't taking no for an answer! Are you OK with that?"

"Bwah-what?" Kumiko didn't know how to properly respond, and could only make some more of her trademark weird noises with her mouth until her mind had regained enough clarity to form a coherent answer. "I… um… eee… ahh… ehh… yes! I'll go on a date with her! In fact, I can do it right now!"

"That's great to hear! She also said she'll be waiting downstairs." Mamiko smiled at both her sister's reply and how everything was progressing smoothly. "Since she's wearing makeup and a fancy dress, I'll get your fancy dress and help you with your own makeup after I tell her your reply. Is that alright with you?"

"Mm!" After Kumiko offered a short but enthusiastic response, Mamiko went out of the bathroom to grab Kumiko's dress and her makeup kit, knowing that Reina had already preemptively agreed to everything. Returning to the bathroom, Mamiko handed the dress over to Kumiko, who proceeded to change into it. Adorning her hair with the pearl-like decorations and the flower ornament, Kumiko then looked at herself in the mirror, and was pleasantly surprised with how she looked.

"And now for the finishing touch!" Mamiko announced. Prompting Kumiko to sit back down on the toilet cover again, Mamiko then took out makeup tools from her bag and started to work on Kumiko's face, applying the same procedures as she did on Reina earlier with the addition of rouge this time around.

After a while, Mamiko was done with beautifying her younger sister's face. Though everything she did was quite simple, it still managed to magnify Kumiko's existing beauty by a significant magnitude, allowing her natural elegance to shine through her flaws and imperfections.

"There! Now you're all ready for your date! Go get 'em!" Mamiko clasped her hands together in excitement, causing Kumiko to further blush in embarrassment again. However, a thought lingered in her mind about one last detail that both her and Mamiko failed to spot.

"If I'm going out on my date, then who's going to take care of my Pokémon?" Kumiko asked. "Do you know someone who could do that for me?"

"Since _Reina_," Mamiko put extra emphasis on Reina's name when speaking it, causing Kumiko to squirm uncomfortably in her seat. "asked you out on such short notice, it's going to be hard to find someone who can do that for you. Thankfully, I'm free tonight, so I'll look after your Pokémon. It's the least I can do to make sure your date will go smoothly."

"Thanks sis! You're the best!" Hugging her sister before stepping outside the bathroom, Kumiko gave her one final wave. "I'll see you after the date!"

"Good luck and have fun, Kumiko!" Mamiko replied. After she heard Kumiko open her apartment's door before closing it shut, she then did a fist pump before grinning ecstatically to herself. Against all odds, nothing went wrong in any stage of this plan. All that was left for her to do was wait until Kumiko and Reina came back the next day as a happy couple.

Heading downstairs in the elevator, Kumiko was oblivious to her sister's machinations, nervous yet excited about what Reina had planned for their date. While she wondered for a moment when Reina had the time to organize all this given they spent almost all their waking moments together, Kumiko pushed that aside when the lift doors opened, more concerned about what was coming next.

Exiting the building, the first thing Kumiko saw was Reina standing graciously in front of her. With the streetlights' glow basking down on her desired, Kumiko could finally appreciate just how beautiful Reina looked in her getup. Though her outfit was just as simple as Kumiko's, what really allowed it to shine was Reina's natural elegance.

"Wow, Reina… now that I've got a better view, you look really stunning." Kumiko breathed out, entranced by how gorgeous the girl of her dreams looked. Continuing to admire each other's beauty, Kumiko and Reina gazed at each other in bedazzlement until Reina swept her hand down in a grandiose gesture and opened the door of the limo behind her, motioning for Kumiko to get inside.

The sheer gracefulness of Reina's movements left Kumiko unable to move herself, only being able to stare in awe of Reina's majesty, which was only reinforced and compounded by her next words. "After you, my dear."

With Reina's polite declaration, Kumiko's face turned red as she stepped into the limo, with Reina herself following soon after and closing the door behind her. As she watched Reina push a button, the limo's roof shimmered and became transparent while it began to move, taking them off to parts unknown.

As an automated voice began to drone on about the various landmarks of Minant City, Kumiko looked out the window in boredom, though that was the most generalized way to describe the smorgasbord of emotions she was currently feeling, all of them bubbling up to take advantage of her insecurities at this vulnerable moment.

To have the girl she wanted above all else invite her on a date was possibly the closest to paradise Kumiko could ever dream of, but a part of her quietly nagged that her ordinary self wasn't worthy of even getting close to Reina. With how plain she was, what made her special one stand out would slowly be corrupted by her mundane self, being dragged down from the heavens just because she couldn't climb to Reina's level.

That last thought made Kumiko feel tainted and dirty next to the radiance Reina was exuding, as if she was there only because of a dumb stroke of luck. Even as she tried to reassure herself that Reina genuinely went all out tonight for a reason, there was still some doubt in Kumiko's mind that her special one was only doing this out of pity for her.

Trying to stuff those uncomfortable and mixed feelings down inside her, Kumiko started to feel nauseous from her complicated emotions and how the limo was maneuvering itself around the busy roads. However, she also saw that Reina had shuffled close to her, clearly indicating for Kumiko herself to take the final step and close the small distance between them.

Seeing that she had nothing to lose here, Kumiko laid her hand over Reina's as she noticed just how cold her special one's hand really was. Unsure of what Reina's lack of reaction signaled, Kumiko was afraid she had done something wrong when her special one closed the small remaining distance between them.

With this tiny action, Kumiko knew that Reina had took her gesture as one of kindness and affection as their eyes locked with each other's. Taking this as a sign to begin a conversation, Kumiko began to spout off the first thing she could think of.

"Reina, have you done this before?" Kumiko asked while awkwardly trying to avoid eye contact. "I mean, everything you've done so far seems so professional and cool, and you seem to do everything without missing a beat. Going on this date is like a dream come true for me."

"I haven't gone on a date before, so this is my first time. How about you?" Reina gracefully replied. The way her special one responded without missing a beat gave Kumiko the impression Reina was some sort of invincible goddess of captivation and charm, able to seduce anyone regardless of gender.

"It's my first date as well." Kumiko answered. "Truth be told, I'm glad that we're both doing this for the first time, since that means we've got a lot of room for errors. Not that you need it anyways with how well you've pulled all this off."

After Kumiko got her words of adoration off her chest, Reina smiled stunningly at her, but soon went back to look at the limo's touchscreen. Wondering what these mixed signals meant, Kumiko was about to ask her special one when Reina spoke first.

"Kumiko, is this song alright with you?" Reina asked. Looking at the screen, Kumiko saw that Reina had picked the song 'La Vie En Rose'. Noting her special one's choice in music, Kumiko nodded as Reina pressed play on the screen, letting the classic love song's music set the mood for them.

As the limo continued to drive down the street, Kumiko was surprised when Reina leaned her head on her shoulder, but she instinctively took it in kind and laid her head on Reina's own, and the two girls stayed that way for a while.

Both of them enjoying the moment they were currently sharing, Kumiko and Reina lost track of time in each other's company until they both heard the limo's automatic narration software make an announcement. "You have arrived at your first destination. Please alight now."

Reina opened the limo's door before gesturing for Kumiko to follow, and the pair headed into a restaurant while holding hands. After they walked inside, Reina spoke to the attendant at the counter. "Excuse me, we have a reservation under the name 'Kousaka' for two."

"Of course, this way please." The attendant politely responded. Showing them to their seats, Reina and Kumiko were pleased to discover that their table was outdoors on a wide-open terrace. With the cool evening breeze blowing through, sitting outside would certainly be an enjoyable experience.

With the attendant giving them a menu each and departing, Kumiko and Reina saw that it was composed of a single page listing out the soups, appetizers, entrees, desserts, and drinks. Slightly intimidated about the prices, Kumiko's fears were quickly reassured by Reina. "I'm paying for everything tonight, so you don't have to worry about anything."

Raising her hand, Reina stated her order to the approaching waiter, followed by Kumiko's own. Before and between courses, Kumiko and Reina continued their conversation, digging in and enjoying the first-class food while entertaining each other under the moonlight.

After they finished their meals, Reina signaled to Kumiko that they needed to leave. Heading to the counter together, Reina paid for their meal using an amount of money Kumiko was surprised she had.

Going back to the limo, Kumiko stepped in first before Reina boarded as they took off again to what Kumiko hoped would be another wonderful destination. Now back on the road again, Kumiko continued cuddling with Reina while 'La Vie En Rose' started playing out of the limo's speakers again.

After a short while, the limo came to a stop as Kumiko looked outside to see that they had stopped outside a theatre. Alighting the limo together, the pair stepped into the cool air of the ventilated theatre blowing at them from its opened doors. After Reina talked to the usher, Kumiko was then directed along with her to a private viewing box, where her special one handed a program to her.

"_L'Oiseau bleu_, or The Blue Bird." Kumiko noted, remembering a children's book she read that had a similar name. "Sounds interesting. Have you seen this play before?"

"No. It's my first time as well, but a friend recommended it to me." Reina replied.

Making themselves comfortable in their seats, Reina and Kumiko observed that the private box had the best view in the house, with a up-close-and-personal view of everything that would be happening on stage.

With the lights dimming, the play began. While Kumiko was trying her best to focus on the play, she wasn't used to watching theatrical performances on stage, so she began to drift in and out of consciousness as the play progressed, unable to keep up with the drama unfolding in front of her.

While she tried to focus on Reina's pretty face to keep her awake, Kumiko's basic needs were starting to win over her human desires as she fought a losing battle with her primal instincts, both sides unwilling to budge over Kumiko's consciousness. However, every human ultimately needed to yield to their body, and Kumiko was no different.

Getting sleepier by the moment, Kumiko was about to fall asleep for real when she felt a light tap on her shoulder, which she assumed was Reina's doing. Turning over to see her special one, the question she asked next hit Kumiko fast and hard.

"Kumiko, would you like to go on a hike with me?"

Left completely shocked by Reina's proposition, only two words came trailing out of Kumiko's mouth in confusion. "Reina… why?"

"You don't seem to be interested in the play, so why don't we go outside and get some fresh air together?" Reina offered, only caring for Kumiko's well-being at this point in their date. "I know just the spot to do that."

"But won't all the money you spent on these tickets be wasted?" Kumiko asked, oblivious to the truth about how Reina obtained their tickets. "I mean, since you got us a private box, they must've cost you a lot."

"A friend gave them to me, and I'm sure she wouldn't really mind since she got them for free and wasn't interested herself." Reina replied, continuing to hide the fact that Mamiko had sponsored this date. "Come, let's go."

Leading Kumiko out of the theatre, Reina found their limo parked a short distance away. Entering together, Reina searched for the place she wanted while Kumiko looked on in confusion. "Reina, where are we going? You still haven't told me anything yet."

"Somewhere special." Reina answered while smiling enigmatically, leaving Kumiko staring at her in pure wonder. "It's only a short ride away, though we'll have to walk up a hill for the last part. That's why I called it a hike."

Selecting the option she wanted, Reina leaned back in her seat as the limo drove itself onwards. Unfortunately, Kumiko hadn't reclined herself in time and crashed into Reina as the car continued to accelerate, but both of them were content to stay in this position as their journey went on.

Approaching their destination, Reina rummaged around the back of the limo for her and Kumiko's bags. As they weren't going to stay at Mamiko's apartment for the night, Kumiko's older sister had planned ahead and dropped off their bags in their car just in case they needed anything in them.

Managing to pick them up from the floor and fish out what she needed, Reina took her and Kumiko's Pokédexes out of their bags and held them in her left hand. With the limo grinding to a halt, Reina then opened the door as she motioned for Kumiko to get out as well. Once the pair had exited, Reina noticed they were standing in near-darkness, despite being relatively close to the city's center.

Thinking quickly, Reina went back to her limo and grabbed her phone, remembering that she had installed a flashlight app on it. In the brief moment Reina left her side, Kumiko was worried that Reina decided to ditch her for dozing off at the theatre, but her desired came back shortly after with a light in her hand.

"Reina, where are we?" Kumiko asked. "You've said we're going on a hike up a hill, but you haven't told me anything else. Of all the things we could do, why did you choose this for tonight?"

"We're currently at the foot of Fortuna Hill." Reina informed her special one. "Though it offers one of the best views of the city from above, few people come here since it requires walking quite a bit, so I thought we should have a little escapade all to ourselves. I'm sure you wouldn't mind the distance."

The way Reina phrased her words was so tantalizing to Kumiko that she almost got lost in them, even if she physically hadn't moved at all. Being alone with Reina was something she still experienced every night in the comfort of wherever they were sleeping, but they were now truly on their own during their waking hours.

As Reina started to walk up the hill with her light in hand, Kumiko was about to follow her like the lovesick fool she was when her glass heels began to dig into her large feet. Going back to the limo, Kumiko kicked off her heels inside before trying her best to catch up with Reina, her special one's illumination keeping her on the right path.

Heading up the hill, Kumiko lamented her slow walking speed as she felt her bare feet impact against the cobblestones, their rough texture still hurting less than the agony of her restricting heels. However, Reina's light always was within a visible distance, as if she was deliberately slowing herself down to match Kumiko's speed while still moving forward, allowing the two girls to close the distance with each other.

"Wait, Reina." Kumiko noticed that despite wearing the same type of glass heels as her, Reina hadn't expressed any audible signs of discomfort even though they were digging into her feet quite visibly. "Aren't your heels hurting you at all? The way they dig into your leg looks painful."

"I know it hurts, but I don't fear pain." Reina simply responded. While this was certainly a masochistic statement, Reina had also expected Kumiko to wear her heels when walking together so they could share their suffering, but she realized the flaw in her plan when she noticed her special one's bare feet.

"What? That's kind of hot." Kumiko casually replied. Upon realizing how her words could be interpreted, Kumiko blushed as she saw Reina's steps noticeably slow down further as her thoughts were thrown in flux and her face also turned red, allowing Kumiko to catch up to the girl of her dreams at last.

Now walking together again, Kumiko and Reina made the final leg of the journey together, their shared light pushing against the shroud of darkness encroaching them from all sides. Making it up to the top hand-in-wrist (Kumiko was going to grasp onto Reina's hand with her own until she noticed none were available), the wondrous view of Minant City from above was truly a sight to behold for both girls.

Though the glamour of all that shined below was already stunning on its own, Reina merely considered this to be a simple backdrop for her next act, something she thought would be even more impressive. Walking over to a pavilion overlooking the city, Reina leaned on the lookout's safety railing as Kumiko looked on, bewitched by even the most simple of her desired's actions.

"It's beautiful tonight, isn't it?" Reina cryptically questioned, the sparkling city lights being reflected in Kumiko's amber eyes as they widened at that mysterious comment. "What do you say to a little night music together?"

"Music? You don't mean…" Kumiko breathed out, finally being able to see the Pokédexes Reina was holding in her other hand. Stepping closer to receive hers from Reina, a night breeze blew through their hair, but that slight mishap did not stop their hands from connecting in that brief moment Kumiko's Pokédex exchanged hands, their shared thoughts and desires being communicated wordlessly.

Sitting down on the pavilion's bench, Kumiko's hard light euphonium sprang to life in her hands as Reina sat down next to her with her trumpet in hand, all boundaries of physical distance being broken down between them in this intimate instant as their cloth-covered hips and legs touched, their bare thighs almost interlinking.

"What do you want to play?" Reina asked, though she already had an idea in mind to suggest once Kumiko's indecisive self couldn't come up with an answer. While she knew it wasn't in good conscience to manipulate her special one with her inherent flaws, Reina saw this as the only method to get what they both wanted.

"Hmm… maybe the piece we played during our middle school graduation ceremony? Ai Wo Mitsuketa Basho (The Place Where We Found Love), was it?" Kumiko suggested nonchalantly, seeing as it would continue the precedent Reina set of listening to La Vie En Rose together in the limo, the songs about love pairing with each other well.

Reina's heart almost leapt out at Kumiko's reply, as that was precisely the piece she had been thinking about, but she still managed to barely keep her yearning feelings in control at this pivotal moment. Nodding once at her desired as she nodded back, the two young musicians put their instruments to their lips as they looked at each other, ready to begin once they both felt prepared.

Drawing a breath in perfect sync, the music that proceeded to flow out from their horns was nothing short of pure harmony amidst the clash of light and dark between city and sky. Notes of pure bliss floated into the night as the two girls resonated on each other's wavelength, the bond between them being reinforced and enhanced through the music they were playing.

While it could not be visualized, the sheer beauty of how the connection they shared was so stunningly expressed that even the wild Pokémon residing on the hill found themselves naturally drawn to this raw display of emotion shared through the duet, slowly being immersed into the tapestry of sound the pair were weaving.

Despite looking in front and away from each other, Kumiko and Reina never felt more close in their lives than this moment, even when they were cuddling against each other in bed. Approaching the climax, they locked eyes with each other without missing a beat, the music coming from them now running free and wild into the open.

Playing the last note, the pair held onto it for as long as they could, not wanting this ecstatic energy between them to fade away. When their breaths finally gave, Kumiko and Reina put down their instruments and looked at each other, both waiting for one to break the tension.

Noticing the saliva and condensation accumulated on Kumiko's lips, Reina proceeded to stretch a single finger to wipe away at her special one's mouth. However, Kumiko interpreted this simple gesture as something more, and instinctively closed the distance between their lips without any thought to her actions in a kiss.

Though Reina was momentarily taken aback by surprise as her eyes shot wide open, she nonetheless accepted this sudden display of affection from Kumiko, leaning in closer to deepen their kiss as their arms wrapped around each other's bodies, both of them losing track of time in this moment.

After a while, even their musically-trained lungs eventually ran out of air, leaving Kumiko and Reina gasping as they recovered from their bout of intimacy. Perhaps it was the temporary oxygen deprivation partially affecting their mental facilities, but both girls were feeling extremely impulsive, letting their mouths run off with their thoughts.

"Wow… that was amazing." Reina noted. "I never knew that you were such a good kisser. Maybe we should do that again sometime later? I've got a hotel room reserved for the two of us tonight, so your sister won't disturb us if we choose to continue."

"Yeah, that sounds good." Kumiko replied, still panting while her lungs were filled with the cool night breeze. "Or maybe we can repeat what we just did now. We can save time that way."

"Whatever you sa-" Reina's last words were interrupted as Kumiko mashed their lips together, their open mouths providing ample room for Kumiko's tongue to worm its way across to Reina's, and they were soon engrossed in a miniature jousting match as their closeted feelings for each other were finally laid bare.

Those three little words that needed to be said finally came when Kumiko and Reina parted their lip-lock again, though neither was sure who said them first in the heat of the moment. "Kumiko/Reina, I love you."

Upon hearing this declaration of sincerest affection from each other, both Kumiko and Reina put their palms on their cheeks to hide their growing blushes, afraid of how the other would react to what they just said.

"Reina… I never knew you thought of me that way." Kumiko admitted first. "I've always had feelings of admiration for you no matter what you did, but I always assumed you were always looking too far ahead to pay attention to me."

"To be honest, I've been thinking the same thing as well." Reina confessed, relieved the girl she loved also harboured similar feelings to her. "Ever since I became smitten with you when we first met, I've always feared that I'm going too fast for you to catch up with me."

"You've… been in love with me for that long?" Kumiko was shocked at how she failed to pick up on any signs Reina had been infatuated with her prior to today's date. Thinking back to everything they did before, Kumiko had always interpreted Reina's gestures as ones of friendship, but she now realized Reina was always trying to get closer to her all this time.

"Yes, which is why I have but one simple request for you." Reina was now internally trembling at what she was about to say next. Knowing that Kumiko would definitely answer yes after she said her question, there was no turning back for the relationship between them after this point. "Kumiko Oumae, will you be my girlfriend?"

As Kumiko's eyes widened once more at Reina's proposition, the most obvious answer came to her mind almost immediately, and she replied without a single shred of hesitation. "Reina, do you even have to ask? Of course yes! I do want to be your girlfriend! I want to be with you forever and ever!"

Overjoyed her demands for affection had finally been answered by the girl of her dreams, Reina kissed her now-girlfriend on the lips again as Kumiko responded in kind, the lovers sharing a tender moment with each other under the moonlight.

And so, the mountain of great fortune became the place where they found love.

* * *

A/N: And with this confession of love (after all), Kumiko and Reina are now finally a couple! After more than thirty chapters of romantic tension between them, our lovebirds have finally taken their relationship up a notch. Stay tuned to find out what new trials and tribulations await them in the future!


	39. Chapter 39: Otanjyoubi Omedeto, Reina

_Many months later…_

"Reina, do you remember when we came up here for our date?"

As she leaned on the railing separating her from the dazzling lights of Minant City below, Kumiko ignored all that glittered beneath in favour of looking at Reina, the lustrous purple orbs which were her eyes sparkling with a light exceeding what anything under them could produce.

"Who wouldn't?" Reina responded with a smile on her face, the muscles she developed from years of playing the trumpet creasing to form an expression which made her all that more endearing to Kumiko. "I can still remember every detail of it like yesterday."

"Even… that?" With the memories of what happened shortly after resurfacing in Kumiko's mind, she wished she had phrased that question more eloquently as an awkward blush formed on her face. To her surprise, Reina didn't feel disgusted at that question, but simply laughed upon realizing what Kumiko was thinking about as her cheeks also turned red.

"Yes, that as well." Reina simply answered, not wanting her emotions to get the better of her. Reina was the type of person who liked everything to be in control, especially on a day as important as her birthday. However, Kumiko's sudden invitation to hike up Fortuna Hill with her had thrown all her well-laid plans out of the window for the second time in a row.

A few weeks back, Reina's birthday ideas had been derailed when Kumiko suddenly told her she had something extremely important to do on the day, and the date couldn't be changed at all no matter how much she tried. With great reluctance, Reina had to resign herself to the reality of a Kumiko-less birthday for the first time since they rekindled their friendship.

Previously, this wouldn't have been a problem for Reina, whose near-friendless background had led her to celebrate birthdays alone for most of her life, with the exceptions of her parents, relatives, and friends of the family. While this was satisfactory, she always felt that there was something lacking as the years passed by.

After Reina let Kumiko into her small circle of confidants, she finally found out what she was missing, and her newfound joy of commemorating her birthday was even brighter than the candles lighting up the cakes Kumiko either brought or baked for her.

Now that the warm glow which was Kumiko Oumae vanished from her birthday this year, Reina saw no choice but to adjust her plans accordingly, deciding to celebrate with her parents on the night. As the day drew nearer, Reina was determined not to let Kumiko's absence dampen her parade, but she couldn't help but feel a sense of longing deep down for her special one.

With her plans all finalized, Reina woke up on her birthday with the sole goal of making herself feel good without Kumiko's help. Since there would be no one to impress today, Reina chose to dress simply in a light blue dress. It was nothing fancy, but as she looked at herself in the mirror, Reina was disappointed Kumiko wasn't standing beside her, gawking at and complimenting her getup.

Despite her promise to herself to spend the day however she wanted, Reina was at a complete loss as to how she would achieve this goal. Deciding to do the things she enjoyed, Reina then spent her morning and afternoon split between playing the trumpet and watching movies on her own, only stopping for snacks and lunch.

Time quickly flew, and Reina soon realized it was already evening when she finally put down her trumpet and looked outside when her lips grew exhausted. The sound of her phone vibrating on a nearby table broke the silence, and Reina scampered over to see what she had missed.

Scrolling past unimportant notification after unimportant notification, Reina's eyes were then fixed on a message from Kumiko dating back to an hour ago, telling her to meet up at the foot of Fortuna Hill and bring her trumpet along an hour from now. Looking at the short text in abject horror, Reina quickly wrote a short message telling her parents to savour the cake she ordered before packing up her trumpet.

Sending out Eurydice in a hurry, the next thing Reina did was be whisked to her destination in an instant, not even bothering to slip on a pair of shoes before doing so. Once she arrived a moment later, Reina was bewildered at the sight awaiting her.

Standing in front of the twisting path upwards was Kumiko, though not the Kumiko Reina saw every day. Wearing a bright red dress with short sleeves made of semi-transparent material and thick white highlights running down the middle and bottom, accompanied by similarly-colored heels and a red scrunchie tying her hair up in a ponytail, Reina's mind was immediately filled with the image of a tengu.

"Reina! You're ten minutes late!" Kumiko exclaimed, but her tone of voice was one of relief rather than one of disappointment. Looking at the euphonium case Kumiko was lugging on her back, Reina started to have an idea of what Kumiko had planned, but she kept it to herself. Ogling her beloved from the top down, Reina was then stopped by a flat "What?"

"Nothing. I was just surprised by how beautiful you looked." Reina noted, wanting to get on with it already. Feeling severely underdressed in the moment, Reina regretted not checking her phone sooner so she could have time to change into something much fancier, but she knew she would have to bear this mistake with her.

"Alright. Let's go." Turning to face the winding road, Reina then followed Kumiko as they made their way up the hill, with Kumiko lighting the way up using her phone. In the moment, Reina couldn't help but think that this must be how it felt to lose your life, drawn to a beautiful thing despite your fears.

"Hey…" Reina's soft voice trailed out, but Kumiko's ears picked up on her words. "Do you do this kind of thing often? Just randomly hiking up mountains and stuff?"

"Haah? What do you think I am? A hiking nerd? Of course I don't!" Laughing at Reina's strange question, the couple then continued to ascend the hill, the dark shroud of the trees surrounding them obscuring any light from below.

"Do you need to switch with me?" Reina asked on the way, not wanting Kumiko to shoulder the burden of carrying her euphonium on her own. After all, her trumpet was far lighter, even in its case.

"No, I'm fine." Her attention drawn to Kumiko's shoulders, Reina then noticed they had grown more broad compared to the first time they went up, most likely as a result of carrying her euphonium around. Around halfway to the oh-so-familiar pavilion, Reina then saw something worrying.

"Wait, Kumiko." Reina noticed Kumiko's heels were digging into her feet, which would have made the climb even more agonizing for her, but she hadn't expressed any audible signs of discomfort despite how they were digging into her feet quite visibly. "Aren't your heels hurting you at all? The way they're digging in looks painful."

"I know it hurts, but I don't fear pain. Isn't that what you said to me back then, Reina?" Kumiko responded, a reassuring smile on her face. While Reina certainly remembered making this masochistic statement on their first journey here, she never would have expected Kumiko being the one to throw those words back at her.

"Then I'd have to agree that it's kind of hot." Reina replied, the two girls sharing a laugh. After that brief exchange, she had finally walked fast enough to catch up with Kumiko, and the couple held hands as they traversed the final leg forward together. With those last steps to the viewing platform, Kumiko and Reina were then greeted with the spectacular sight of Minant City down below, the familiar lights welcoming them back like an old friend.

Suddenly breaking free of Reina's grasp, Kumiko then went on and leaned on the railing, the sparkling backdrop below illuminating her further as she said the words Reina expected her to say. ""Reina, do you remember when we came up here for our date?"

Continuing her conversation with Kumiko from there, Reina's thoughts snapped back to the present, her impulses urging her to take control of the situation after Kumiko's casual mention of _that_. However, she quickly quashed those thoughts down, not wanting to ruin whatever Kumiko had set up for her.

"A lot's changed since then, you know?" Kumiko went away from the railing and sat down on the pavilion's bench, prompting Reina to do the same as well. "We've met new people, got separated for a while, beat all eight Gyms, challenged the League. Wow… when I say all that out loud, I can't believe that it's really happened to us."

"Same here." Reina agreed. "Honestly, it feels kind of incredible we got to experience that much in such a short time. I mean, how long did our journey take in total? Two, maybe three months? And look at what we've accomplished in that time!"

"It really felt like it's been event after event during our journey." Kumiko added. "When I first started, I never expected to travel around the region this much, let alone go through even a quarter of what we did together, but the most unforgettable part of it all was meeting you again."

"Yeah… it's almost impossible to imagine what my journey would have been like if I hadn't met you in Dacap Town that day, and Perto City later on." Reina smiled nostalgically at those thoughts. "Originally, I planned to make my way across the region solo, but you convinced me to travel together with how you acted, even if it was because you were scared of Bug-types."

"Ouch. That hurt." Kumiko rubbed the back of her head as if she had been stung, the movement of her ponytail being flung up and down capturing Reina's undivided attention. "Though it worked out wonderfully for both of us in the end, right? I mean, we got more out of this journey with each other than we ever could have on our own."

"Definitely." Reina felt that Kumiko was dragging the conversation a bit here, so she quickly pivoted to the subject she was here for. "Speaking of each other, I was wondering why you invited me up here. You usually don't do things on a whim like that."

"It's because today's your birthday, and I've got only one request for you on your special day." As the least words escaped Kumiko's mouth, a smile formed between her lips. Everything she planned had been leading up to this moment. "Reina Kousaka, will you play a duet with me?"

Immediately after hearing Kumiko's question, the subtle blush on Reina's face turned into a full crimson glow, surprised yet elated at what her beloved was proposing. Composing herself before taking a deep breath, Reina naturally replied with the only possible answer. "It will be my pleasure to."

Taking out her trumpet from its case, Reina saw Kumiko do the same with her euphonium, the shining stars above and the sparkling city lights below being reflected on their instruments' golden polish.

Placing their mouthpieces in almost simultaneously, the lovers instinctively knew what to play without a single word between them, memories of their first night here flashing through their minds with a mixture of sentimentality and eager anticipation.

With a shared breath, the first notes of 'Ai Wo Mitsuketa Basho' flowed from Kumiko's euphonium and Reina's trumpet, intertwining with each other to create a harmonious synergy which could have only been conveyed through the special bond between them.

In that moment, Reina was one with Kumiko, their shared melodies producing a warm harmony in unison. Despite not having any sheet music to look at, every last note was played perfectly by the couple, their fingers weaving through the familiar motions to bend and shape the piece to their will.

Ringing true amidst the darkness surrounding them, the lovers' feelings formed in the shape of their duet, this light night serenade sounding through euphonium and trumpet alike. Across the boundless expanse Kumiko and Reina were facing, their raw emotions were laid bare for the world to hear.

As they approached the last note together, the couple locked eyes with each other, their vibrant glow glimmering in each other's irises. Holding that final tone in place, neither of them gave in until the very end, their breaths coming to a complete stop as Kumiko and Reina separated their lips from their mouthpieces.

It was then that Reina noticed Kumiko had been holding a lighter in her left hand the entire time, which had been concealed by the way her palm rested against her euphonium's pistons. Knowing there was only one purpose it could be used for, Reina waited as Kumiko lit up something behind them, revealing it to be a birthday cake in the shape of a trumpet, candles sticking out of its three valves.

"Kumiko… you shouldn't have." Reina was left breathless at this surprise her special one had planned out. After all, she _didn't_ have to go out of her way to get all of this done for her sake. Reina would have been content no matter what Kumiko had up her sleeve, but what just ended and what awaited her went above and beyond even her wildest expectations.

"But I could." The soft illumination in Kumiko's eyes had now brightened to become a microcosm of the stars above, her resolve to make sure Reina's celebration was as special as possible shining through. "Happy Birthday, Reina."

Tears of pure ecstasy were flowing through Reina's eyes as she kissed Kumiko fully on the lips, tremendously moved by everything her beloved did to guarantee her happiness. Ever since she had set eyes on the girl named Kumiko Oumae all those years ago, there had been nowhere but up to go for Reina, both in ambition and achievements.

After wiping her tears away, the two lovers shared Reina's birthday cake as they looked at each other, ignoring the magnificent view in front of them as they were lost in each other's beauty.

There really was nothing more Reina could have wished for on her birthday.

* * *

A/N: Writing this chapter was hard for multiple reasons, but the main one is that I almost forgot it was going to be Reina's birthday tomorrow, so I had to come up with an idea for this chapter on short notice. Another challenge I had to face was that this chapter couldn't be set anywhere during the main story, since I've got Kumiko and Reina's journey completely planned out, which is why this is set some time after [SPOILER] to make sure it doesn't contrast with anything. With this chapter being published right after the confession between Kumiko and Reina, I hope it's still good enough for Reina's birthday!


	40. Chapter 40: Ai Wo Mitsuketa Basho - 3

Marcato was bored. Bored out of his mind.

For some reason, his Trainer was nowhere to be seen tonight, and her friend had also disappeared into the unknown. Now, he was left alone in a completely unfamiliar apartment after being let out of his Pokéball by a woman who said she was Kumiko's older sister.

While Marcato gave her the benefit of the doubt, he was still suspicious of the circumstances he was left in. With no word from his Trainer about where she might be, there was no telling what would happen next.

Looking around to see his teammates lounging around in the apartment's living room, Marcato also saw his Trainer's friend's Pokémon with them, being looked after by his Trainer's sister as well. Using the word 'friend' to describe his Trainer's closest human companion was technically correct, but he knew their relationship was deeper than that.

From the way they interacted with each other, it was clear to Marcato that his Trainer and her companion were in love. However, it seemed they hadn't reached the stage where they confessed their feelings to each other yet, judging by how guarded and nervous they acted around each other while still being affectionately close. Knowing how everything would be much simpler if they were honest with each other, it simply was an infuriating display to watch.

On the living room's couch, Orpheus was trying and failing to use a remote control due to a lack of fingers, his arm-blades nearly cutting some of the rubber buttons every time he pressed down on them, nearly breaking the device. Sighing, Eurydice then picked up the remote control with her Psychic powers and telekinetically pressed what she thought was the channel change button, only to have the volume pushed up drastically.

Every Pokémon in the room panicking at the sudden increase in noise, with the visually-impaired Trip ran around in panic, inadvertently smashing his hard head into a section of the plaster wall lining the apartment. Seeing her teammate unable to pull himself out, Sparkle quickly ran over to help him, yanking him with all her newfound strength. Upon Trip's successful extraction, they fell over backwards, causing Sparkle to discharge a large amount of electricity again.

As current surged all over the room, the stray charge overloaded the building's electricity grid, disabling the lights and all plugged-in appliances in an instant. Sparkle's tail naturally lighting up in the sudden darkness, Marcato could get a glimpse of where everyone else was.

With Sparkle holding Trip and Orpheus standing alongside Eurydice, Marcato only had three more Pokémon to account for. Looking at the apartment's balcony, Marcato saw Idina and Demi stopping in the middle of teaching Handel how to handle using Ice-type moves better, wondering why the lights had suddenly gone out.

Realizing they were going to be in real trouble when his Trainer's sister saw the havoc they caused, Marcato concluded the only solution for them was to make a run for it and return tomorrow once his Trainer and her companion were back from wherever they went.

Quickly sharing his idea to the other Pokémon present, all of them quickly nodded as they slowly dawned to the truth of how much hot water they were potentially in. With a suggestion from Eurydice, everyone else crowded around her as they were Teleported to a grassy clearing with trees surrounding them.

Asking Eurydice where they currently were, she informed Marcato that she actually had no idea of the exact location they had Teleported to, only that it was close to the apartment. Scanning the area for clues about their unexpected destination, Marcato then saw a sign planted into the ground. Hopping over, he could only decipher that they were in a park, since he couldn't read the word before it on the sign.

Telling the others where he saw, everyone agreed to lay low here until morning the next day, which was when Marcato was sure their Trainers would return by. Settling down with his teammates a short distance away, Marcato decided to cool himself off in the night breeze when he felt a tap behind him.

Turning around to see who it was, Marcato was surprised when he saw that it wasn't one of his teammates that got his attention, but a wild Cottonee instead. Bending down to the shorter Grass-type's level, Marcato asked the Cotton Puff Pokémon what it was here for, to which it responded by pointing one of its leaves in the direction of Reina's team.

Over there, a Petilil was currently conversing with Reina's Pokémon, but the exact details couldn't be heard from where Marcato was standing. The Cottonee quickly explained that he had a crush on the Petilil, and was trying to get her hand (or stub in this case) in love, but was too nervous to do so by himself.

Sighing, Marcato facepalmed to the best of his ability at the amount of romance-related scenarios he had found himself in. Not only was his Trainer blatantly in love with her travelling companion, but now a wild Cottonee had come to him for love advice? What was he, some kind of consultation cactus?

Looking over to the rest of his teammates, it was clear they had also heard the Cottonee's plight as well, and were currently thinking of ways to help him confess his love to the Petilil. Since none of them had been in a relationship before, and knew no people or Pokémon who were in one, there were exactly zero ideas coming out of this impromptu brainstorming session.

While this was certainly not an extremely important matter to Marcato or any of his teammates, they had nothing better to do right now, so they decided to help this poor Cottonee with his romantic dreams to pass the time. Continuing to rack their brains, Orpheus suddenly came up with an extremely obvious solution to this deadlock.

Telepathically communicating with Eurydice, Orpheus asked his twin sister about the Petilil that was currently with her teammates, and she quickly responded by telling him that the Petilil had a crush on the Cottonee his team was with, but she was too nervous to confess to him about their love.

Realizing they had exactly the same problem with an identical solution, Orpheus and Eurydice began to mentally plot a plan to bring these two loveplants together, bringing their teammates into the telepathic fold once they hammered out the basic details. Since everyone in the Psychic conversation wasn't making a single sound, the Cottonee and Petilil both wondered if they were being locked out of the loop, though they hoped their newfound friends finally had a plan for them.

Upon confirming the final parts of their scheme, Marcato and Idina turned to their respective Grass-type charges, telling them they needed to be blunt about their feelings if the other side was to reciprocate. Nodding nervously in anticipation, both the Cottonee and Petilil began to slowly hop towards each other, with their friends silently hoping that everything would go smoothly.

Observing the two Grass-types interacting with each other from a distance, Marcato saw them jump around before expressions of joy formed on their faces, meaning their desires of love had reached each other. However, the Cottonee and Petilil soon returned back to their respective sides, causing Marcato to worry that something bad had happened.

However, the Cottonee and Petilil told Marcato and Idina that since they were wild Pokémon, there was still a chance of them suddenly being separated by natural phenomena, so they wanted to be captured by the same Trainer and maximize their chances of staying together.

Realizing that the Grass-types didn't know they were part of different Trainers' teams, Marcato and Idina hurriedly explained the awkward truth to them, to which the Grass-types then asked if their Trainers were close, which would also work for them. Both of them nodded, and a joyful expression dawned on the Cottonee and Petilil's faces.

It was quickly decided that the Cottonee would go with Kumiko's team, and the Petilil with Reina's, matching who they met first. As everything was successfully settled and the Grass-types given a warm welcome by their new teammates, Marcato wondered how they were going to explain this to their Trainers the next day, considering this romantic development.

How had two Pokémon gotten their romantic tension over with quicker than their Trainers did?

Reina's eyes fluttered open as the morning light seeped into the room, warming up the blanket draped over her body. Turning her head, she saw Kumiko still sleeping next to her, pure and beautiful in her naked form… Wait, naked?

Immediately glancing down at her own body, Reina then saw that she was also fully unclothed as well. Looking around the room in shock, Reina's face turned red upon seeing both their fancy dresses strewn astray across the room's carpeted floor, along with their undergarments closer to the bed she and Kumiko were sleeping in.

As she tried to unravel what set of circumstances had led her to this happening, Reina's memories of the previous night came flashing back to her, revealing the truth of how she ended up here together with Kumiko.

After they kissed, declared their love to each other, and became girlfriends during their date's completely unplanned hike/duet session, Reina and Kumiko went back down the hill and travelled to the hotel where Mamiko had reserved a room for them, all while unloading their closeted burdens of romance onto each other.

Thanks to the unrivalled privacy a soundproof hotel room gave them, the lovestruck couple unleashed their pent-up desires towards each other, doing everything two teenagers possibly could in bed well into the night.

While there should have been more steps between being a couple and doing the deed, it was clear to both girls in their throes of passion they had already cleared most of those hurdles already during their 'friendship' stage.

The blood rapidly rising to Reina's cheeks at the previous night's events, the thought that she had lost her innocence only a few short hours ago almost made her think she had made one of her life's worst decisions, but remembering she did it with Kumiko immediately made her feel much better. Doing things with loved ones was something that Reina greatly enjoyed, and that included everything she did with Kumiko, perverted or not.

Hearing shuffling sounds behind her, Reina turned to see Kumiko waking up, with her beloved rubbing her eyes and stretching her arms in the air before realizing she was completely naked. Blushing and looking around the room in panic, Reina assumed that Kumiko was going through the same thought process as she did only a few moments earlier.

Inevitably locking eyes with each other, no words came out of Kumiko or Reina's mouths as they struggled to process how they would communicate with each other after everything that happened last night. With this standoff between them going nowhere, Kumiko decided to take the first step forward by starting with the blandest greeting possible, not wanting to offend her newfound girlfriend. "Good morning, Reina."

"Good morning, dear." The words came so smoothly out of Reina's mouth that she didn't realize the ramifications of what she said until Kumiko profusely blushed, surprised that Reina had already shifted to using terms of endearment for her so soon after they declared their love for each other. "Did you like last night's date?"

"It was um… ehh… uh… fantastic! Magical! Truly out of this world!" Kumiko spouted out, scrambling to find the perfect word to describe just how great she felt during everything that had happened last night, starting from when Reina greeted her at the door. "I can't thank you enough for treating me to such a wonderful experience! I'll cherish it with all my life!"

"I'm glad you enjoyed it." Reina was relieved her beloved had enjoyed everything she had planned yesterday, including the impromptu detour up a hill. "And I'm also pleased to spend this day with you as your brand-new girlfriend."

Somehow, everything that Reina said had caused Kumiko's face to redden uncontrollably, though she had completely no clue how she best knew to charm her beloved. This process all seemed so natural to her.

However, the blush on Kumiko's face still hadn't subsided even after a while, and Reina instinctively knew the best way to solve this problem. Walking over to Kumiko, Reina kissed her while placing her cold hands over her girlfriend's warm cheeks, helping to cool them down as they continued to warm up.

Realizing they were both still naked while in this act of romance, Kumiko grabbed Reina's bare back with her right hand, dragging her down onto the bed. Upon feeling how cool Reina's unclothed body was as her girlfriend collapsed on top of her, Kumiko used her larger stature to roll around and pin Reina down onto the bed as they switched positions, still not breaking off their lip lock or body proximity.

After an untold amount of time, both girls finally ran out of air, gasping for breath as Kumiko backed off from her dominating position over Reina, giving her girlfriend the space to get up and sit properly on the bed. "Wow… that was intense."

"Yeah, but I think we should get dressed now." Reina replied, walking over to pick up her underwear and dress from the floor. "Since we've left some of our stuff at your sister's, we should go back to pick it up. She's definitely going to be asking why we didn't return last night."

"I was thinking of going back to thank her for helping me do my makeup and giving me that dress as well. If it wasn't for her, then I really think I wouldn't have made such an impression on you last night." Kumiko thought back to how her sister was quite eager to support her even when Reina appeared at the door without any warning. "Speaking of dresses, we can't go back wearing the ones we wore here. Ahh… this is going to be awkward."

"Not if I have something to say about it." Reina held up her and Kumiko's bags, thankful she remembered to bring them with her up to the hotel room. "We've both got spare changes of clothes, so I think we should be OK."

"Thanks Reina! You're the best!" Kumiko energetically ran over to her girlfriend and gave her another kiss, not caring that Reina was currently carrying two bags in her hand or they were both naked.

After they untangled themselves from their romantic moment, the couple then showered together before putting on a fresh set of clothes, never losing sight of each other as they did so. Folding their fancy dresses and putting them into their bags for easy carrying, Kumiko and Reina headed down to the hotel's lobby for a buffet breakfast, then left for Mamiko's apartment on foot.

A short walk later, Kumiko and Reina approached the salon/Gym/apartment building, holding hands all the way. Entering the elevator, the couple pressed the top button at the same time, surprising each other with their sudden synchrony. Giggling all the way up at that moment of unison, Kumiko and Reina knocked on Mamiko's door together with smiles on their faces.

"Kumiko! Reina! It's an emergency!" Mamiko's shocked voice was the first thing the girls heard when the door opened. "Your Pokémon are gone!"

"What?! Where are they?" The couple was completely taken aback by this revelation, with Kumiko also thrown off guard by the fact that Reina's Pokémon were also with Mamiko. Just when did Reina have the time to leave her Pokémon with her older sister? Did Mamiko know about the date in advance?

"I'm not sure, but it seems they fled the apartment in a hurry after another Pokémon shorted-out the building's electricity grid and rammed a hole in my apartment's wall." Mamiko recalled. "Thankfully, nothing seems to be stolen or destroyed, but I'm more concerned about where your Pokémon are."

As soon as Mamiko finished her sentence, all of Kumiko and Reina's Pokémon appeared behind her, along with the Cottonee and Petilil they picked up yesterday. Hopping over to his Trainer, Marcato jumped around her as he motioned for the Cottonee to come as well, while Idina gestured for the Petilil to stay by her side. However, both Trainers only cared about their current Pokémon's well-being, oblivious to their soon-to-be team members.

"Marcato! Where did you go last night? Are you all right?" Kumiko asked her starter Pokémon, who sighed at how his Trainer managed to miss such obvious cues. At this rate, she was going to get confessed to and be none the wiser.

Boldly pointing at the Cottonee's direction while looking at it, Kumiko finally got the hint Marcato was trying to give her. "Oh? A Cottonee? Where did you come from, little guy?"

As Marcato tried to explain how he had met the Cottonee which was going to be his Trainer's newest teammate, he could see Idina telling the same story to her Trainer about the Petilil from the corner of her eye, albeit with more success. After a while, Kumiko seemed to understand what Marcato was trying to get across.

"So basically, you guys were Teleported to a park, where you met the Cottonee and Petilil who confessed their love to each other, and now you're saying that the Cottonee wants to be my Pokémon. Is that right?" Kumiko recounted, to which Marcato jumped around in joy, ecstatic that his Trainer finally managed to understand what he was saying for once.

"All right, let's get you captured and nicknamed. Nice to meet you!" Taking out a Pokéball from her bag, Kumiko tapped it on the Cottonee's head as he jumped up, setting it down on the ground as she waited for him to be captured. Once the Pokéball finished flashing, Kumiko picked it up and threw it out, sending out her newest partner for the first time.

"So, let's decide what I'm going to name you." Kumiko began, crouching down to the Cottonee's level so they could see eye-to-eye. Looking at Reina, Kumiko saw that her girlfriend was also talking to her new Petilil, most likely having done a capture as well judging from the Pokéball sitting next to her.

"Fluffy? No, that's too ordinary. Cotton? Too plain." Even when she had only thought of two possible names so far, Kumiko was at a complete loss for ideas when it came to nicknaming her Cottonee. Turning to see if Reina had better luck, it was clear that her girlfriend was also stumped as well, staring at her Petilil in silence.

Thinking back to what Marcato told her about the Cottonee and Petilil being a couple, a realization struck Kumiko as she thought of a naming theme for both her and Reina's Pokémon. "Since they're a couple as well, why don't we name our Pokémon after the piece we played yesterday up on the hill? Two Pokémon in love named after how their Trainers fell in love seems like a good idea to me! If that's the case, then I think I'll name my Cottonee Mitsuketa!"

"I agree with your idea, but I think Mitsuketa is too long for a good name. Maybe Mitsuke would be better?" Even with her proposed change, Reina was still pleased with her girlfriend's suggestion, already having a nickname in mind for her own Pokémon. "As for my Petilil, I think I'll call her Ai."

"All right, then. That's settled. Welcome to the team, Mitsuke!" Kumiko stuck a hand out to high-five her newest teammate, and the freshly-named Mitsuke responded in kind by using his leaf. Meanwhile, Ai was simply content to have her head leaves being rubbed by Reina, making happy noises as her Trainer did so.

However, everyone failed to notice the Dynamaxed Donphan in the room until Mamiko pointed it out, completely floored by the subtle yet significant reveal of Kumiko and Reina's relationship status and what they did during the date. "You two… became a couple… and abandoned… the date plan?"

"Kumiko was starting to feel tired and started dozing off when we were watching the play, so we went on a hike up a hill." Reina answered, completely unaware she was spilling the beans about conspiring with Mamiko in front of her girlfriend. "Once we reached the summit, we played a duet on our instruments, kissed, and confessed to each other."

"Wait… You planned the date, sis?" Now it was Kumiko's turn to be confused by this turn of events. Of all the theories she had about how Reina had managed to pull off such an elaborate date, her sister being involved really threw her in a loop. "Was everything we did all arranged by you?"

"Well, looks like the Skitty's out of the bag at last." Mamiko admitted, her ruse finally being exposed in front of her little sister. "To briefly explain, I had the idea for the date brewing in my mind since I first saw you and Reina together, so I offered Reina the chance to go on a date with you, while I arranged all the events you two would attend together."

"Of course, anything that could go wrong went wrong." Mamiko continued. "Since our family never really watches theatrical performances, I had no idea Kumiko would fall asleep so easily when watching one, so that was one thing I forgot when planning out your date. Thankfully, Reina's quick thinking saved the day and made you two a couple, so I guess everything worked out in the end! Congratulations!"

"Yeah, but that doesn't excuse you meddling around in our love life…" Kumiko snarked as her voice deepened, causing a slight chill to go down Mamiko's spine. "Though I'm willing to make an exception this time since I got to confess to the girl I love. Thanks for setting up this date, sis!"

"Anytime, Kumiko!" Mamiko replied. "I hope you found everything I've prepared for you two to your liking, but it seems that the one you should really thank is your girlfriend. If it wasn't for her, then I'm not sure if the date would be as successful as I hoped."

Kumiko was about to speak to Reina when Mamiko's phone rang, breaking the romantic mood in the room. Picking it up, Kumiko wondered who could be calling her sister as she talked to the person on the other end. "Hello? Yes… yes… I see. Two? OK, I'll get down soon. Tell them to wait a moment until I get there. Bye!"

Mamiko turned to address Kumiko and Reina. "There's two challengers looking to battle me at the Gym, but I need to give something to Reina first. Kumiko, can you head down and wait for me there? Reina and myself will be with you shortly."

"All right, I'll see you two in a moment!" With Kumiko recalling her Pokémon and heading out of the apartment, Reina was now left alone with Mamiko, wondering what her girlfriend's older sister had to say to her.

"First things first, I can't thank you enough." Mamiko sat down on the couch, motioning for Reina to join her there. "You single-handedly saved the date _and_ stole my little sister's heart! With your natural flair, no wonder Kumiko took a shine to you!"

"Uh, you're welcome?" Reina was hesitant with her reply, since she thought her spur-of-the-moment actions were impromptu and hastily planned out. "I really took a risky gamble there, but I'm glad it paid out in the end."

"That's good to know, which is why I've got a gift for you to celebrate you and Kumiko becoming a couple!" Mamiko took two objects out of her pockets and showed them to Reina. "While I can't pull off a stunt like arranging another date again, I thought that you and Kumiko could wear these matching hair decorations as a couple!"

Looking closer at the accessories, Reina saw that they were hair clips patterned after sunflowers, with one white and the other black. While they were quite intricate and detailed, Reina couldn't help but wonder how Mamiko got them. "Since when did you have these two pins?"

"I picked them up from the Gym's floor three days ago after I had my meeting with you. I've cleaned them beforehand, so you don't have to worry about them being dirty." Mamiko answered. "Though I'm not sure who could have left them there just like that. After all, they seemed to be quite well made, so they was clearly meant as gifts for a special purpose."

A certain Shuichi Tsukamoto sneezed.

"But won't the original owner come looking for them?" Reina asked. "From the way you're casually giving them to me, it seems like stealing. Isn't that unethical?"

"Well, whoever was so clumsy as to lose such beautiful hair clips like these clearly doesn't deserve giving them to someone else." Mamiko replied. "Which is why even if that person comes back and asks about their whereabouts, I'll just say I haven't seen them anywhere. By the way, did you know they've got a special feature?"

Popping off the center of one sunflower clip, Mamiko revealed a small adhesive indent hidden behind it. "When I was cleaning them, I discovered a Key Stone can be fitted inside this area of both clips, so you and Kumiko can put yours there. Aren't they both functional and beautiful?"

"Yes. Thank you very much for your present." Reina took the two clips from Mamiko's palm before placing them in her own pocket, hoping she would not waste this chance and find a good moment to present them to Kumiko sometime in the future. "We should head down now. Kumiko and your challengers are waiting for us."

Going down to the Gym with Mamiko, Reina tried to make some small talk with her girlfriend's older sister, but found herself unable to do so. Call her asocial or something, but casually talking with another person was an extremely arduous task for someone like her. How was Kumiko able to manage that with ease?

With the elevator doors opening once they reached the Gym's floor, Reina thought her previous mental comments about Kumiko were coming true as she saw her girlfriend earnestly talking with the two challengers until she realized who they were.

"Did you two catch any new Pokémon since the last time we met?" Kumiko asked Hazuki and Midori, revealing that the two smaller girls were the challengers Mamiko would soon face.

"Yeah, we both did!" Hazuki happily exclaimed. "I caught a Skitty and named her Loco, who then evolved into a Delcatty after I found a Moon Stone buried in some volcanic rock. As for Midori, she's got a Ribombee named Rimsky, who was originally a Cutiefly when she caught him on the way here, but he evolved after some Trainer battles with people we met along the way. Oh, and Tubacabra evolved into a Jolteon and Tuba-kun evolved into a Bewear!"

"Hazuki-chan, you forgot to mention the most important event." Midori chided her friend. "Your starter Pokémon Hanasaku evolved into a Sunflora after the Gym Leader in Subdomi City gave you one! How could you not remember that?"

"Sorry, must have slipped my mind." Hazuki apologized to no one in particular. "Is the Gym Leader here yet? We've been standing here for quite a while!"

"Oh, there she is!" Kumiko exclaimed as Mamiko and Reina approached the three girls. "Reina and myself challenged her two days ago, and she gave us one of the hardest fights we've had so far, so good luck to the two of you!"

"Welcome to the Minant City Gym!" Mamiko announced. "I take it that you're the two challengers who are going to face me, right?"

"Yes, we are!" Hazuki energetically answered. "We both have four Gym Badges, so this is going to be the fifth Gym we're taking on! Will we need to do anything special before taking you on like at the Subdomi City Gym?"

"We don't have anything like walking on coals here, but I'm thinking of doing something special for both of your battles." Mamiko answered. "You see, it's been on my mind ever since I went on a trip to Galar a while back, and this style of Gym challenge has recently been approved by the League, so I want to try it out."

"Ooh, Midori wonders what it could be?" Midori pondered out loud. "Rental battles, Double battles, or Extreme Speed battles? Those styles of battles have been quite popular in Galar lately!"

"Nice try, but I'm afraid it's none of them." Mamiko shot down Midori's guesses. "This style of battling takes inspiration from the Max Raid Battles found in Galar's Wild Area, where four Trainers team up to fight against a Dynamaxed Pokémon in a Raid Den."

"So we have to team up with other Trainers to fight you?" Hazuki wondered. "But wouldn't that make the battle too easy? I mean, we're definitely going to be packing a lot more power together than you on your own."

"Nope. It's going to be four of your Pokémon versus one of mine." Mamiko replied. "While this may seem easy, the catch is that I'm going to use one of my most powerful Pokémon that I usually reserve for the toughest challengers, who I'm also going to Mega Evolve as well!"

"That seems tough, but I think me and Midori can handle that!" Hazuki declared, confidence brimming in her voice. "I mean, we managed to win against a Gym where the theme was going all-out with your full power, so how hard can this be?"

"You'll be surprised at the raw power a Mega Evolved Pokémon packs, but you're free to challenge me if you think you're up to the task." Mamiko's enigmatically responded. "Do you wish to continue, or come back later once you feel like you're better prepared for this type of battle?"

"We'll both challenge you now!" Midori answered in Hazuki's stead, though Hazuki seemed to agree with Midori's decision. "No matter how tough the road ahead of us is, I believe that we've both got the power to fight you and win!"

"That's good to hear!" Mamiko asked. "Then who'll go first?"

"I'll go first!" Hazuki volunteered. "Since I initially asked you about this Gym's special challenge, I think I should fight you first and prove that I'm not just for show!"

"Alright, then send out your Pokémon!" Mamiko saw her first challenger's enthusiasm as a sign of determination as she walked over to her side of the battlefield, reaching for one of her Pokéballs in the process.

"Hanasaku, Staccato, Tubacabra, Loco, let's go!" Hazuki called out while grabbing two Pokéballs in each hand. Tossing them out, all four of her Pokémon appeared on the battlefield simultaneously.

"Lopunny, jump up in the air!" From Kumiko's perspective, Mamiko seemed excited about this battle, almost as if this chance to go all out on an unsuspecting Trainer was something she wanted. Did her older sister become more bloodthirsty during her time away training in Kalos?

"Battle begin!" the referee announced.

"Lopunny, Mega Evolve!" Mamiko declared as she took out a Key Stone-affixed pendant hanging on her neck, with both the Key Stone and the Lopunnite on a headband her Lopunny was wearing flashing with a bright glow.

When the light subsided, parts of Lopunny's fur had been shed to reveal dark sin underneath, with the fur on its forearms rounding out instead of remaining fluffy. Most obviously, its ears had drastically changed in shape, losing all their fur except for two tufts on each ear that made them resemble braids.

"Our opponent's open! Let's attack!" Hazuki was determined to exploit the brief interval Mamiko's Lopunny needed to adapt to its Mega Evolved form. "Hanasaku, Giga Drain! Staccato, Mach Punch! Tubacabra, Thunderbolt! Loco, Play Rough!"

Staccato's arm was nearly unseen to the naked eye as he threw a supersonic punch in Lopunny's direction, its elasticity allowing him to attack physically from a distance, However, Mamiko's Lopunny caught the attack by looping its ear around Staccato's arm, then launched the Breloom into the air with a Circle Throw.

Charging towards her opponent, Loco hoped that her opponent was distracted enough with Staccato to give her an opening. However, Mamiko saw this attack coming and ordered her Lopunny to attack. "Use Low Kick!"

Swiping out with one leg, Mamiko's Lopunny sent Loco flying backwards, with the Delcatty nearly being thrown into a wall from the impact. With Lopunny's leg exposed, Tubacabra fired his Thunderbolt at that spot, the Jolteon aiming to knock his opponent off-balance.

While the attack successfully connected (with Hazuki doing a fist pump), Mamiko's Lopunny simply used its long ears to prevent itself from falling as its Trainer gave out her next command. "High Jump Kick!"

With both its ears and legs serving as a springboard, Mamiko's Lopunny leapt up into the air as it stretched out its right leg towards Hanasaku. With little time left, Hanasaku tried to wrap her Giga Drain tendrils around Lopunny's leg to slow it down, but Lopunny moved too fast for the Sunflora to target.

What made the High Jump Kick even more deadly when Tubacabra rushed to Hanasaku's side to protect her, only giving Mamiko's Lopunny one more target. Slamming its leg into Tubacabra, the force produced was so great that the Jolteon flew back into Hanasaku, killing two Pidgey with one Rock-type Pokémon.

"How is Hazuki supposed to win this?" Kumiko asked herself. "There's no way her Pokémon can take one more hit!"

* * *

A/N: With them catching Ai and Mitsuke, Reina and Kumiko now only have one more Pokémon left to capture before they have a full team. Comment down below on what you think their last Pokémon will be!


	41. Chapter 41: Flight of the Tuba Bumblebee

"What Miss Katou lacks in battling skill, she more than makes up for in enthusiasm and determination." Reina's words made Kumiko realize she had spoken her thoughts out loud again. "However, that doesn't mean she can just power through this fight with nothing but perseverance and grit on her side. She still needs to slow down and think things through as well."

Hearing her girlfriend say something that profound made Kumiko admire her even more. Despite being together with Reina for less than a day, Kumiko found herself continuing to fall in love each passing day, unable to resist the charms of her beloved.

However, that didn't mean she could take her eyes away from Hazuki's struggle. With all four of her friend's Pokémon left helpless against the overwhelming force of Mamiko's Mega Lopunny, it seemed that the normally cheerful girl was now truly on the ropes, desperate to survive.

"Guys, don't give up!" Hazuki encouraged her Pokémon, who were currently picking themselves up from the floor after recovering from the impacts of Lopunny's powerful attacks. "I know you can do it! Believe in yourselves!"

Standing up, all of Hazuki's Pokémon turned to their Trainer, looking up to her for their next orders. Unsure what to do in the moment, Hazuki then realized that ever since the battle began, everything she was bad at was being revealed in front of her friends, exposing her flaws to the people she cared about.

While she knew that she was an impulsive person by nature, this trait of hers had started to bite Hazuki back more and more severely as her journey went on. Initially, winning a battle meant getting a head start on an opponent and crushing them fast, something that Hazuki excelled at, but the people she fought later on knew how to take advantage of this and turn it into a weakness.

This was most apparent in the few short seconds in this battle against the Gym Leader, where Hazuki's habits got the better of her. Even though she already knew that the opponent she and her Pokémon would be facing was far stronger than anyone they had previously battled against, she still rushed in like a fool, hoping that speed alone was decisive enough.

With her opponent far more experienced and skilled than she was, what advantage a first strike brought was completely negated when all of her Pokémon's moves were soundly countered by the Gym Leader's Lopunny, causing them to now be in grave danger. If she had only held back and allowed her opponent to strike first, then maybe all this would have been avoided, and she could have thought up a counterattack.

Counterattack… that was it! With all four of her Pokémon still on the battlefield, there was still a chance for Hazuki to turn the tide. Even in these dire straits, there was still hope as long as she didn't give up and throw in the towel. She would fight to the end with all her might!

With her spirits now up again, Hazuki's mind was now frantically searching for a way to bring down the Gym Leader's Lopunny, thinking about how she could use her Pokémon's moves in combination with one another to deal more damage than usual. However, Mamiko was having none of that. "Lopunny, use High Jump Kick again!"

Leaping up into the air, Mamiko's Lopunny aimed its attack towards Loco, seeing that the Delcatty was the most separated from everyone else. Right as Loco was about to get hit, Hazuki shouted out an order in desperation. "Use Play Rough!"

With the two Pokémon colliding in mid-air, both of them were hit by super-effective attacks from the other, resulting in a collision which knocked them to the ground. As Mamiko's Lopunny began to recover, Hazuki saw an opportunity to get in a free shot. "Hanasaku, Giga Drain!"

Snaring her tendrils on one of Lopunny's legs, Hazuki's starter Pokémon began to tug on them, dragging Lopunny down while regaining health at the same time. With her Sunflora's attack, Hazuki had gained an even larger advantage, evening the battle's tide. "Staccato, Mach Punch! Tubacabra, Thunderbolt!"

Now that Mamiko's Lopunny remained on the floor, Hazuki's Breloom and Jolteon were free to attack their opponent without any repercussions, striking from a distance to prevent any chances of Lopunny from using a move in return.

"Hmph. You may have improved your tactics and changed your way of thinking mid-battle, but that doesn't mean you're going to win so easily." Despite her slightly arrogant tone, Mamiko was pleased that her challenger had managed to learn how to fight better over the course of this match. "Lopunny, Hyper Voice!"

As it lay on the floor, Mamiko's Lopunny let out a loud yell, causing every person and Pokémon in the Gym to cover their ears in pain. While her Pokémon were braving the deafening sound, Hazuki was focusing all her efforts on finding a way to end this battle once and for all.

Taking note of where her Pokémon currently were, Hazuki wondered what she could do with this information when her mind suddenly recalled an old robot show she watched as a kid. Remembering the gimmick of the robot combining together for a finisher attack, this gave Hazuki an idea.

"Staccato, use your arms to grab on to Tubacabra and Hanasaku!" Hazuki called out. Despite this strange request, Staccato still obeyed his Trainer's orders, grabbing his teammates with one arm each.

"Loco, use Play Rough!" Running towards Mamiko's Lopunny, Loco braved through the dreadful noise she was facing, getting ever closer despite the soundwaves being strong enough to push her back. Seeing that her Lopunny was now wide open to attack, Mamiko decided to shift gears.

"Use Low Kick!" Stopping its shout, Mamiko's Lopunny then shot its leg out at Loco, kicking the Delcatty far away. However, this was exactly the moment Hazuki had been waiting for to finally strike back.

"Staccato, Mach Punch! Hanasaku, Giga Drain! Tubacabra, Thunderbolt!" Firing out his extendable fists, Staccato punched his teammates in Lopunny's direction, where they proceeded to use their moves at close range.

With no room to dodge, Mamiko's Lopunny was left helpless as it was hit by two powerful attacks from both sides, being drained of its health while electrocuted at the same time. Unable to withstand this long-ranged up-close assault, it collapsed on the floor again shortly after getting up, this time for good.

"Lopunny is unable to battle. The challenger emerges victorious!" the referee announced.

"I… won. I won? I won! Yes! I can't believe it!" Hazuki couldn't resist but do a jump in the air upon processing what she heard. Even when she was nearly defeated early on in the battle, her perseverance had paid off in the form of a paradigm shift, and she had reaped the rewards in the end. Running towards her Pokémon, Hazuki couldn't help but express her gratitude towards them. "Thank you all so much!"

"Congratulations! I'm surprised how quickly you managed to think up a combo to win even when your Pokémon were on the brink of fainting." Mamiko praised Hazuki, seriously impressed with how quickly the challenger had adapted to the flow of battle. "Even I thought I had the upper hand there for a moment, but thankfully you managed to prove yourself with the strategy you improvised! Good planning there!"

"Eh-heh. I just saw some openings in the middle of the battle that I thought I could use, so I took advantage of them." Hazuki sheepishly rubbed her head as she avoided praising herself too much. "Oh! And that finishing move was based off on something I saw when I was a kid. It's not much, really."

"Well, whatever way you want to describe what you just did, that was some impressive coordination you pulled off with your Pokémon there." Mamiko complimented. "Even I wasn't sure if this sort of battle format was too hard for someone on your level, but our fight right then convinced me that it was the right choice, so I've also got to thank you as well."

As Mamiko gave Hazuki her badge and recalled her Lopunny, Kumiko saw that Midori was currently psyching herself up after watching Hazuki's Gym battle. Since Kumiko knew that Midori was a far better Trainer than Hazuki was, she was confused as to what Midori was preparing herself for if her battle's outcome was predictable.

"Midori, why are you so hyped for your battle against the Gym Leader?" Kumiko asked. "Since you'll most likely win against her, you should have another reason for being so pumped up. Is it your first time facing off against a Mega-Evolved Pokémon?"

"That's one reason, but Midori has another for doing so." Midori replied, her voice sounding a bit more serious than usual. "You see, Gym Leaders are trained to gauge how strong a challenger is in the middle of a battle, so they know when they should hold back or go all-out. Midori thinks that the Gym Leader was downplaying herself to give Hazuki-chan a fighting chance, so Midori's battle will be harder."

"Hmm, I think I've heard someone say that before, but that's the first time I'm going to see it in action." After saying it out loud, Kumiko then wondered if what she said really was true. As Reina and her went one after the other in their Gym Battles, she had all the opportunities in the world to prove this theory correct, but something nagged at her.

Thinking back to their Gym Battles, most of the tactics the Gym Leaders used against both her and Reina were the same, with the only exceptions being matchup-related. Since Reina was the better Trainer between them, this left only two possibilities in Kumiko's mind: they both were pushing the upper bound of their badge's skill level, or she was just as skilled as Reina.

Both possibilities were unsettling for Kumiko, since they suggested that either the gap between her and Reina was smaller than she imagined, or they were equal in battling skill. If one of these outcomes proved to be true, then it would definitely upset the dynamic she shared with her girlfriend.

As this train of thought continued to worry Kumiko, she was thankfully saved from dealing with this tough dilemma by her sister calling for Midori. "Will the next challenger prepare for battle?"

Stepping up to the challenger's side of the battlefield, Kumiko saw Mamiko send out her Lopunny first, to which Midori responded by throwing the four Pokéballs between both her hands in the air. "Tuba-kun, Valse, Macaroon, Rimsky, break a leg!"

Once Midori's Pokémon were on the field, the referee made the usual announcement. "Battle begin!"

"Lopunny, Mega Evolve!" Mamiko called out. With her fingers clasped around her Key Stone-embedded pendant, the similarly-shaped stone on her Lopunny's headband glowed as well, revealing it into its Mega Evolved form after the light went away.

"Valse, Grassy Terrain!" Midori ordered, her Floette quickly covering the battlefield's entire area in grass with a shake of the flower she carried. With this set up, Midori had gained a strategic advantage before either side had even attacked.

"That's a nice status move, but can it stand up to an attack?" Mamiko rhetorically asked, trying to bait her challenger into acting rashly and making a stupid decision. "Lopunny, use Return!"

Lunging forward, Mamiko's Lopunny quickly made its way across the battlefield to where Midori's Pokémon were currently standing, but Midori already had a counter in mind for the possibility of facing off against such a fast opponent. "Tuba-kun, Bind!"

Right as Lopunny was about to attack her more fragile team members such as Valse or Rimsky, Tuba-kun leapt in front of them, the Bewear letting his opponent sink into his soft fur as he performed a bone-crushing hug, with both Pokémon crashing into the floor a moment later.

Quickly standing up again, Tuba-kun then revealed that Mamiko's Lopunny was still in his death grip, unable to move or counterattack. Since Tuba-kun himself couldn't attack as well, Midori exploited the numerical advantage she had. "Rimsky, two Pollen Puffs to go please!"

Rolling up two small balls from the pollen and nectar stuck in his microscopic hairs, Rimsky then threw them out at Tuba-kun and Lopunny's direction, the Ribombee using his species' signature move for both its battle-related purposes at once.

As the Pollen Puffs soared over the battlefield, Tuba-kun caught one in his mouth, instantly regaining the health he lost from Lopunny's attack. However, Lopunny was not so lucky, with the Pollen Puff directed towards it exploding in its face instead.

With the damage from Tuba-kun's Bind slowly stacking up over time, Midori knew that it was only a matter of time until Lopunny broke free of Tuba-kun's arms, so she had to move on to the next part of her plan, which she began to devise while watching Hazuki's battle.

Though she didn't like using her less experienced friend as a test dummy, Midori knew that there was no choice for her if she wanted to win. Midori genuinely cared about the outcome of a match, but what mattered the most to her were the reasons behind a battle in the first place.

While she could have quickly defeated the Gym Leaders by going around the region as a solo traveller, Midori felt her journey wouldn't be as rewarding if she completed it that way. That approach would mean all she gained from her journey was strength and strength alone, which would only result in any victory she gained being completely hollow and meaningless to her.

Instead, Midori decided to travel with Hazuki shortly before they began their journeys, to which her friend readily agreed. Hazuki's lack of skill would slow them down, but Midori reckoned that was a significantly better outcome compared to her struggling to get by on her own. Without her help, Midori doubted her friend would have made it this far.

Despite moving around at a slower pace to give Hazuki time to train and improve her skills, Midori found that this was an infinitely more enjoyable experience compared to doing things by herself. As the more skilled of the two, Midori was able to point out her friend's weaknesses and tips on how to improve, helping her friend overcome challenges she struggled with.

However, getting stronger and accompanying Hazuki on her own journey weren't the only reasons Midori set out in the first place, and those other motives had to be kept secret from everyone around her because of everything they could impact. Though her friends couldn't know about this, Midori still had to borrow their goodwill at times to get things done, which included letting Hazuki go first in Gym battles.

Part of Midori's secrets involved her needing to be at the level where she would be able to challenge the Elite Four, so collecting eight Gym Badges was a priority for her. To expedite this process, she observed what Pokémon and strategies the Gym Leaders used against Hazuki, planning out counters and contingencies in turn.

This process of exploiting Hazuki's lesser skill for her own ends definitely made Midori uneasy, but she often told herself that this was all for everyone's sake, so some Eggs needed to be broken. Besides, Hazuki would most likely forgive her, being the easy-going girl she was.

Focusing her attention back to the battle at hand, Tuba-kun was at his limit of holding back Mamiko's Lopunny, but Midori was already aware of what her Pokémon were capable of. "Tuba-kun, let Lopunny go! I've got this covered! Don't worry!"

"Are you sure?" Mamiko smirked at her challenger's decision to give up this one advantage. "Then we'll make sure to part with a bang! Lopunny, High Jump Kick!"

Kicking on Tuba-kun's chest to propel itself right as it was freed, Mamiko's Lopunny did a backflip in mid-air as its opponent was pushed backwards by the super-effective attack, preventing Tuba-kun from assisting his teammates while he recovered from the impact.

"Use High Jump Kick again!" Rebounding off the air with a kick before aiming a foot towards Macaroon, Midori was caught off-guard by this technique. As most of Hazuki's battle had taken place on the ground, she had completely no idea about what was going to hit her Helioptile head-on. Quickly thinking about what she could do, Midori then realized one of her Pokémon had a move for the job.

"Valse, use Ally Switch!" Instantly, the two Pokémon swapped places, with Valse taking the attack's full brunt instead of her teammate. With the attack being not as effective on the Fairy-type Valse compared to its increased effectiveness on the Electric and Normal-type Macaroon, Midori avoided having one of her Pokémon being knocked out.

As Valse was sent flying from the High Jump Kick's force, Midori seized the moment where Mamiko's Lopunny was landing to give Rimsky an order. "Use Moonblast!"

Rimsky's wings glowed white with a faint pink aura as he materialized a pure white orb larger than his body in front of himself. Firing it out at his opponent, the super-effective attack hit Lopunny right as it hit the ground, knocking it off course and giving Midori a chance to land the finishing blow. "Tuba-kun, Superpower!"

Rushing in, Midori's Bewear primed his fist for one final attack, but Mamiko still wasn't giving up just yet. While this challenger was clearly more skilled than the first one, she still had a few more tricks up her sleeve. "Lopunny, use Return!"

Propping itself back up on its ears, Mamiko's Lopunny then bended them back as it sprung forward from the tension's recoil, leaping towards its opponent as it prepared a punch powered by positive emotions. Meeting Tuba-kun in mid-air, the resulting punch parry caused gale-force winds to swirl out across the Gym as everyone struggled to see what was going on.

Once the impact of the two moves colliding had died down, both Pokémon were thrown back from the amount of damage they received, crashing on the ground a few moments later. With everyone waiting to see whether Mamiko's Lopunny could continue fighting or not, it was ultimately Tuba-kun's super-effective move that won out in the end, with him standing up while Lopunny completely collapsed.

"Lopunny is unable to battle. The challenger emerges victorious!" the referee declared.

As Midori went over to congratulate her Pokémon and receive her Gym Badge, Kumiko turned to Reina, slightly shocked at the display of power she just saw. "Wow… I didn't know Midori was that strong. That finishing attack was really something!"

"Me neither." Reina admitted. "I assumed that she would be weaker, considering we won against her and Miss Katou during the Double Battle tournament, but I think she was concealing her true strength back then."

"Why do you think so?" Kumiko asked. "Hiding what she's capable of doesn't give her any advantage at all, and the tournament's prizes were quite valuable going by how much of an advantage we got from them, so there should be no reason for her to hold back, especially considering Hazuki's skill level."

"Maybe what she wanted from the tournament weren't the prizes, but something else entirely." Reina theorized. "Considering how HTT was behind the tournament and how little people were in it, I'm thinking she was most likely gathering information about something there. After all, data's the most valuable resource in this day and age, so whoever has the most wins the most."

* * *

"Bye Kumiko! Bye Reina! We're off!"

Waving goodbye to Hazuki and Midori, Kumiko and Reina bade farewell to their friends so soon after reuniting with them. While they would have liked to spend more time hanging around Minant City together, there was something on Hazuki's schedule she couldn't ignore.

"I'm going on a date!" Hazuki announced earlier while the girls were eating lunch. "It's with a cute guy at an amusement park later today! I'm so excited I can't wait another second!"

"If you were going on a date today, then why did you challenge the Gym?" Reina asked. "Since there wasn't a guarantee you would win on your first try, wouldn't your time be better spent getting prepared?"

"Well, the amusement park we're going to is close by, and the date starts in the afternoon, so Midori suggested we challenge the Gym in the morning to save time since we just arrived in Minant City last night." Hazuki told Kumiko and Reina. "But anyways, remember what the Gym Leader told us about the Contest Spectacular being held at Termezzo Town two days from now? Are you two thinking of joining?"

"That seems interesting." Reina mused, thinking back to Mamiko's suggestion for where the four girls could go next before challenging their next Gym. "Contest Spectaculars are usually held only in the Hoenn region, so getting to try one out here is a unique opportunity. Besides, Termezzo Town is between here and Ubmedi City, where another Gym is, so it could also serve as a pit stop."

"Then this settles it!" Midori declared. "Two days from now, we'll rendezvous at Termezzo Town and try out the Contest Spectacular, then head to Ubmedi City together and challenge the Gym there! Is everyone alright with this?"

"Sounds good to me." Kumiko replied. "Two days should be plenty of time for all four of us to get there and prepare for the Contest Spectacular. In the meantime, I'll spend some more time with Reina here looking around this city. It's been nothing but event after event since we've arrived here, so we want to experience more of this city."

Returning back to the present, Kumiko watched as Hazuki and Midori departed from where Reina and her were standing. While Kumiko wondered why Midori needed to accompany Hazuki on her date, the shorter girl reassured her that Hazuki needed all the mental and emotional support in the world in the off chance the date went wrong.

Finding herself unable to disagree with Midori's logic, Kumiko turned to Reina. "I can't believe that it's only been a day since we got together. It feels like a week already with everything that's happened today."

"But now that we've got all this time to ourselves, let's spend it together." Reina tilted her head affectionately at Kumiko, who blushed at this gesture. "Where do you want to go first? I'm all ears."

Before Kumiko could respond, a new voice cut in. "Excuse me, do you know where Perto City is? I need to get there for an appointment with a client."

Turning to look at who had asked them, Kumiko and Reina saw that it was a young woman about their age with braided shoulder-length blonde hair and sparkling blue eyes. A sea-green brooch was attached to her knee-length dress, which was mostly white except for the navy-blue area around the torso and gold-trimmed short poofy sleeves, with thick brown stripes vertically running down the dress' lower half and knee-length brown leather boots sticking out from underneath.

Though what she wore was already out of the ordinary, what made this girl stand out even more were the two items she carried in each of her leather-gloved hands. In one hand she carried a brown case by the handle, while an intricate baby-blue frilled parasol was being held by her other hand.

With how antique the girl's entire outfit looked, Kumiko wondered if she just stepped out of a period drama's filming session. That, or she was on some kind of prank show. However, Reina was undeterred by this sudden request and immediately stepped in to help the girl.

"Perto City is quite far away from where we are, but since we've been there before, my Gardevoir can Teleport you there if you want." Reina offered. "Considering it only takes almost no time at all, I'm happy to help you."

"Thank you very much, but could you come along as well?" the girl requested. "I have just alighted from a long journey by sea, so it would be best if someone accompanied me to make sure I do not have any adverse conditions after my travels."

"I'm not busy right now and my Gardevoir can Teleport two people with ease, so I can help you get to Perto City." Reina replied as she sent out Eurydice. "Kumiko, can you follow along with Orpheus? I don't want to leave you alone here."

"Oh, sure!" Sending out Orpheus from his Pokéball, Kumiko saw as Eurydice grasped on to Reina and the blonde-haired girl before they were whisked away, prompting her to command Orpheus to do the same.

Instantly, the world in front of Kumiko faded away as she was transported between locations, replaced by the familiar sights and sounds of Perto City's more relaxing atmosphere. While the most traumatic experience in Kumiko's journey so far had happened here, she oddly found returning to this place quite comforting for some reason she couldn't identify.

Seeing Reina already waving the stranger off and asking her to take care, Kumiko wondered what the entire point of her Teleporting here. As she was about to return to Reina's side and go back to Minant City with her, it was her girlfriend who went over to Kumiko first with a strange expression on her face.

"Well, that went much quicker than I expected." Reina candidly admitted. "The moment after we Teleported here, the girl said farewell to me before bolting off on her own, so I didn't get her name or what she needed to go here for. Anyways, let's get back to Minant City. There's still a lot waiting for us."

"Uhh… about that." Kumiko noticed two familiar figures approaching her and Reina, along with several others she didn't recognize. "We may have something else on our hands to deal with first."

"Kumiko-senpai! Thank Arceus you're here!" Kanade called out. "Me, Ririka-chan, and our friends have got a big problem on our hands, and we think that you and Reina can help us out with it! I promise it won't take long."

"What is it, Kanade?" Kumiko asked, unsurprised to see her 'kouhai' here with so much already happening today. "Does it involve someone running into trouble at the forest or something happening at the Day Care where Ririka works?"

"It's neither." Kanade's answer had a hint of slyness to it, as if she knew that Kumiko had no choice but to bow to her whims. "You see, me and my friends here were planning to organize a mini battle tournament between us, but there's been a hitch in our plans. You see, one of us doesn't have any Pokémon, so she can't participate."

"OK, and what does that have to do with us?" Kumiko pressed further, not sure what Kanade want her to do. "Reina and myself recently caught some new Pokémon, so maybe your friend could borrow one from us?"

"That's a good idea, but we thought of something else already." Kanade smirked while preparing her proposition. "Originally, we were looking for an experienced Trainer to help her catch a Pokémon, but you two can fill in that role since you're here. How does that sound?"

"Why don't you just go along with her to catch one or ask Ririka to give her an Egg that's about to hatch?" Kumiko suggested, the obvious solutions readily presenting themselves. "There's completely no need to rope us into this."

"Come on, Kumiko-_senpai_." Kanade emphasized the last word, causing Kumiko to feel the responsibilities and burdens that came along with it. "Isn't a senior supposed to help out their juniors in times of need? Besides, I think you'll recognize who's asking for your help."

As Kanade stepped aside, Kumiko saw another girl hiding behind her. The girl's long brown hair was in a braid draping down her left shoulder, while her purple-rimmed glasses perfectly matched the color of her eyes and the hairclip which held her bangs up. Her appearance and shy demeanour rang a bell in Kumiko's mind, but she couldn't put a name to the face in front of her.

"And you are…?" Kumiko tentatively spoke, hoping the younger girl would provide an answer Kumiko could work with. Of all the times her memory had failed her, this was the most inopportune moment, especially with Kanade enthusiastically egging her on from the sidelines.

"K-Kumiko-senpai, you really don't know who I am?" The girl was visibly distraught at Kumiko's forgetfulness, as if she was hinging on Kumiko knowing her identity. "I-I'm Yume Kohinata. You were my senior in our middle school concert band, where I played the trumpet."

"Yume… Yume…" Kumiko floated her name around for a moment before finally remembering where she had heard that name before. "Oh, yeah. I think I heard your name maybe once or twice, but since we were in different sections, that's about it."

"Hang on a moment." Reina interjected, reminding everyone else she was still present. "I attended the same middle school as Kumiko AND played trumpet in the concert band there, so why didn't you also ask me?"

"Oops, my bad." Kanade put a hand up to her face in a poor effort to conceal a small grin. "Sorry about that, Reina. Unlike Kumiko, you're not _my_ senpai, so I didn't mention you to Yume here. However, I think she did tell me once or twice about an aloof senior with long black hair who only cared about playing the trumpet and nothing else. By any chance, could that be you?"

"Anyways, let's get back to the main point." Reina brushed Kanade's unsubtly subtle criticism of her aside, slightly intimidating the younger girl. "You want us to accompany Yume to catch a Pokémon. Is that correct?"

"Precisely." Kanade retorted, already finished stepping on Kumiko and Reina's toes for the time being. "Since I know you two have Teleporting Pokémon, you can take her anywhere you want, but you need to be back by the end of the hour, which is when we're starting our tournament. Is that alright with you?"

"We've got no problem with that, and I've already got a location in mind." Reina replied, sensing that Kanade was more likely to give straight answers to her rather than to Kumiko. "Considering its Pokémon diversity, I was thinking of going to Reed Forest along with Kumiko and Miss Kohinata. With all the choices available, I'm sure that Miss Kohinata will find the perfect Pokémon for her there."

Sending out Eurydice again, Reina then gestured for Kumiko and Yume to latch on as they were quickly spirited away. Once her friend and 'senpais' were gone, Kanade turned to Ririka as she smirked again.

"You know what they say: there's a sucker born every minute." Kanade casually commented. "I can't believe that I convinced them to do our dirty work for us. How did they attract Miss Asuka's attention with such a high level of gullibility?"

* * *

Reappearing in the nearby forest a moment later, Yume soon began to wander around the forest with Kumiko and Reina following her, hoping to find a Pokémon she could befriend and catch in time for the tournament.

"So, Yume." Kumiko began, trying to strike up a conversation with her 'kouhai' as she helped look around. "Why don't you have any Pokémon of your own? I thought that as your friend, Ririka would give you Eggs to raise from the Day Care she works at."

"Well, I didn't become friends with Ririka until recently, so the Eggs she gave me haven't hatched yet." Yume explained. "But everyone else still wanted me to participate in the battle tournament and not make me feel left out, so they decided to find someone to help me catch one."

"Your friends do have good intentions, but don't you think you're going with the flow too much here?" Reina seemed sceptical that Yume would so readily cave in to her friends' demands. "You could've just sat out if you don't have a Pokémon, and that's still possible if we can't find a Pokémon here."

"I've already promised them that I would participate, so turning them down won't be easy at this point." Yume was trying to put up a brave face, but Kumiko and Reina could see that it was barely hiding her anxiety and indecisiveness.

Just as Reina was about to confront Yume about her true feelings, the three girls then heard a loud 'CAW' above them as an avian Pokémon soared down, revealing itself to be a Corvisquire. Taking out her Pokédex, Kumiko scanned the Pokémon as it looked expectantly at the trio.

"Corvisquire, the Raven Pokémon." The Pokédex droned. "Smart enough to use tools in battle, the lessons of many harsh battles have taught it how to accurately judge an opponent's strength."

Staring intently, the Corvisquire tilted its head to observe each of the girls several times before hopping over to Yume's side while cawing. Crouching down to examine it, the Corvisquire made several more happy caws upon being able to see her face more closely.

"The Corvisquire appears to like you." Reina noted. "Do you want to catch it?"

"Uhh… looks like I don't have a choice here since the tournament's going to start soon." Yume admitted, continuing to gaze at the Corvisquire while it studied her intently. "There's not really much time to change my mind now."

Handing Yume a spare Pokéball from her bag, Kumiko watched as she lightly tapped it on Corvisquire's beak, then waited for a moment as it wobbled in her hand while flashing. Once it stopped moving, Yume stood up and showed Reina and Kumiko the Pokéball she held.

"Oh… I've got my first Pokémon now." Yume breathed out while she stood back up, still confused as to how she should feel. "You two, thank you very much for accompanying me out here. Without your assistance, I almost certainly couldn't have done this."

"But we didn't really do anything except give you a Pokémon." Kumiko pointed out the obvious. "Reina and myself just stood by while Corvisquire approached you in case anything went wrong, so you captured it all by yourself."

"Speaking of which, it seems like you've already earned Corvisquire's trust from the way it acted around you." Reina thought back to what the Pokédex said about Corvisquire. "Since the entire Corviknight evolution line is highly intelligent, it most definitely has a reason for choosing you. Maybe it thought that it could grow stronger with you as its Trainer?"

"I'm not sure." Yume was still recovering from the high of catching her very own Pokémon. "But whatever the case, we need to get going. My friends should be waiting for me, and I want to see how we'll fare against them and their Pokémon, but I wonder who they'll use?"

* * *

A/N: For those of you who haven't read the second year novels yet (an English translation is available courtesy of Team Oumae. Search that name and you'll find it.), Yume Kohinata is a trumpet player one year below Kumiko. To give a brief summary, she attended the same middle school as Kumiko, Reina, and Shuichi, so she's surprised when Kumiko doesn't remember her when they meet again in high school. According to Reina, she is quite good at the trumpet, but she lacks the self-confidence necessary to properly show off her skills. Sadly, Yume's story was cut in Chikai to save time, so I hope that people will take the time to read the second year novels and learn more about her.


	42. Chapter 42: Miniature Overture

"Kumiko-senpai, you're back already? Did you manage to help Yume catch a Pokémon?" Kanade asked as she saw Kumiko, Reina, and Yume materialize in front of her. While not much time had passed since she had seen them off, Kanade was surprised they had managed to return this quickly.

"Yes, we did." Reina answered in Kumiko's stead, not wanting her beloved to suffer any more teasing from her 'kouhai'. "A Corvisquire hopped up to Yume and seemed to like her immediately, so she managed to catch it without needing to borrow a Pokémon from us and battle it."

"Hm, that's interesting." Kanade mused, intrigued that her timid friend had somehow managed to attract a Pokémon just by existing. "Anyways, we're all still preparing for the tournament, so there's some time left to get acquainted with your new catch. Since I need to get ready myself, I'll show you where we're holding it before I go put in some last-minute work."

Leading Kumiko, Reina, and Yume away from the busy city center, the four girls walked for a while until they reached a large grass clearing, where Kumiko saw Ririka and Kanade's other friends training with their Pokémon.

"See that spot in the middle there?" Kanade pointed to an flat patch of ground area devoid of greenery. "That's where we're going to battle soon. Yume, you can train your Pokémon here until it's time to battle. See you in a bit!"

As Kanade went off to another part of the green area, Kumiko and Reina looked expectantly at Yume, who was still nervously clutching her Corvisquire's Pokéball tightly in her hands, anxious about how she would perform in her upcoming battles.

"Yume, what's the matter?" Kumiko asked, trying to reassure her 'kouhai'. However, her words were too blunt for the younger girl to handle, causing Yume to retreat further into her metaphorical shell. Afraid that her girlfriend had overstepped some invisible social boundaries with her well-meaning question, Reina decided to step in herself and try to help Yume with her troubles.

"We're both Trainers with experience, so feel free to ask us if you have any questions about Pokémon training and battling." Reina continued where Kumiko left off, picking up the pieces of conversation her beloved had scattered. "Since this is your first time battling with your Corvisquire, you should at least get to know what moves it has, which our Pokédexes can tell you."

Tossing the Pokéball she held onto the floor, Yume's Corvisquire then appeared in a flash of light and turned to her while cawing loudly, then flew up onto her shoulder to use it as a resting perch. Taking the initiative, Reina scanned Corvisquire with her Pokédex, then told Yume about what she learned.

"Your Corvisquire is male, and knows the moves Pluck, Fury Attack, Rock Smash, and Hone Claws." Reina read off her Pokédex's screen. "Are you planning on giving him a nickname? Most Trainers do so to deepen the bond between them and their Pokémon."

"Since I've just caught him, I haven't given much thought to that." Yume candidly confessed. "Could something such as Blackbird be possible, like that song from the old Galarian boy band? Corvisquire's feathers are blackish blue, so I thought it would fit since it's also a Pokémon native to Galar."

"That's a good start, though your Corvisquire may object to that." Reina replied, seeing how Yume's Corvisquire seemed ambivalent to that suggestion. "If you give a Pokémon a nickname they don't like, then you won't be as close to it."

"Hmm, maybe I could give it a foreign spin to make it sound more interesting?" Yume considered that option, then seemed to settle on an idea. "The words for 'black' and 'bird' in another language are 'kuro' and 'tori', so would 'Kurotori' be all right?"

"I don't know. Ask your Corvisquire. He's the one being named, not me." Reina pointed out. With how her Corvisquire was happily cawing at the suggestion, Yume quickly decided that was a good name for him, Trainer and Pokémon smiling at each other after the decision was made.

"Now that you've got choosing a name out of the way, let's move on to the basics of battling." Reina continued. "First, start by ordering your Corvisquire to use a move."

"OK, let's see…" Yume trailed off as she tried to remember the moves Kurotori knew. "Try using Rock Smash at that stone over there!"

Pointing at a medium-sized rock close by, Kurotori flew off Yume's shoulder and slammed his talons into it, breaking the stone into tiny pebbles. A feeling of pride and accomplishment washed over Yume as she realized it was the first move she had ordered her Pokémon to use, marking the beginning of her becoming an actual Trainer.

While Yume continued to train with Kurotori under Reina's supervision, Kumiko decided to take a look at the rest of Kanade's friends, who were also getting ready with their own Pokémon. What caught Kumiko's eye was that all of them already had full teams of six Pokémon, most likely as a result of Ririka's part-time job at the Day Care.

This line of thought made Kumiko uneasy, as it meant that Yume was at a severe disadvantage when it came to Pokémon variety. If all her opponents had more choices of Pokémon in the tournament, then she wouldn't stand a chance against their superior number of options.

Sitting on the ground in frustration, Kumiko rapidly ran her fingers through her hair as she pondered at the issue Yume would soon be facing. While she had completely no obligation to help out her 'kouhai' during the tournament, Kumiko still felt that it was horribly unfair for Yume to be forcibly entered into the tournament like that with only one Pokémon. Hopefully, the rules would be in her favour.

After a while of anguish and observing everyone else passed, Kumiko heard Kanade's voice resound throughout the area, signalling that the tournament was about to begin. Picking herself up, Kumiko wished that Yume's battles (if she even had the chance to have more than one) wouldn't be a single-sided slaughter.

"All right, everyone!" Kanade began as everyone gathered at the grassless vacant area. "This is the moment you've been waiting for: the Perto City Junior Trainers' tournament!"

A small round of applause heralded Kanade's words as Ririka went over to her side with a rolled-up piece of paper tucked under her right arm. Kumiko expected nothing good to be written on it.

"Since there's six of us, the rules are as follows." Kanade addressed the small group after everyone was gathered around her. "This will be a single-elimination tournament with five single battle matches, and each participant can only use one Pokémon throughout the entire tournament, so choose wisely!"

Kumiko breathed a sigh of relief at the rules as Ririka unfurled the piece of paper and began to explain its contents. "Here's how the matches will go down: the winners of the first two rounds will fight either Kanade-chan or myself depending on which side of the bracket you're on, then the winners of those rounds will face off in the finals, and the winner of that will be this tournament's champion!"

"Ririka-chan, don't you think you said the word 'winner' one too many times there?" Kanade probed her friend, who simply laughed it off. "Anyways, the first match will be between Mirei and Motomu, while the second match will be between Satsuki and Yume. Before the first match begins, can everybody except Mirei and Motomu please step off this clearing?"

As Kumiko went a short distance away from the expanse to watch the matches along with Reina, she saw that only two people remained there along with Kanade, who Kumiko assumed was serving as the referee for this match.

One of the contestants Kumiko saw on the field was a short grey-haired boy with eyes of the same color, while the other was a girl much taller than him with black hair and blue eyes. Though the height disparity between them was quite extreme, there was a similar glint of intensity in both their eyes.

Going to opposite sides of the clearing, the boy sent out a Rockruff, while the girl sent out a Whirlipede. With Kanade raising her arms, Kumiko saw the battle unfold before her eyes as the Rockruff used various Rock-type attacks which the Whirlipede dodged by rolling around before striking the Rockruff using Poison-type attacks in a hit-and-run style.

At this point in the battle, it was hard to tell who had the upper hand. With both contestants doing equal amounts of damage to each other's Pokémon, the fight could swing any way with one missed or gained opportunity. With the next move from the girl's Whirlipede, Kumiko suspected that time had come.

After the boy's Rockruff was attacked, it recoiled farther than usual as purple bubbles came out from its body, indicating that it had been Poisoned by the Whirlipede's move. Though Rock was super-effective against Bug-types such as Whirlipede, this didn't mean there weren't other ways to win in this matchup.

Even with the Rockruff being Poisoned, it didn't seem like its Trainer was ready to throw in the towel just yet. Using several Rock Tombs, it managed to block off a large amount of the Whirlipede's escape routes following its Trainer's orders. With nowhere for it to go now, the Whirlipede had no choice but to steamroll dead ahead with a Poison Tail.

However, this seemed to be the outcome the Rockruff's Trainer wanted. Commanding his Pokémon to use Rock Throw, the Rockruff then summoned a large boulder in front of it before using its front paws to grasp and throw it directly at the barrelling Whirlipede.

Though the force of a rotating Whirlipede was certainly nothing to sneeze at, it wasn't enough to fight against the sheer mass of stone being hurled at it. With the unstoppable force meeting the immovable object head-on, the super-effectiveness of Rock against Bug-types won the deadlock, and the Whirlipede collapsed to one side after reeling backwards.

"Whirlipede is unable to battle. Motomu wins!" Kanade announced, clearly mimicking how the referees at Gyms and tournaments spoke. With the girl recalling her defeated Whirlipede, it was now time for Yume's first battle. Since there were only a few moments before Yume would be battling, Kumiko went to her 'kouhai', hoping to give her a few words of reassurance in the time they had left.

"Do you think you're ready, Yume?" Kumiko asked her 'kouhai', who looked pensively at the battlefield. "I know this is your first battle and there's a lot of things you're unsure about, but there's definitely a reason your Corvisquire chose you, so you're definitely going to be good partners. Go for it!"

"Sure, Kumiko-senpai. I'll give it my best shot." Yume replied tentatively. Though Kumiko's words were legitimately well-meaning, there was a hint of hollowness to her sincerity, which didn't sit well with Yume. However, there wasn't much time to dwell on that, so Yume just went to the desolate area and prepared to face Satsuki Suzuki.

Though she and Mirei shared the same surname, there wasn't any familial relation between the two girls, and everything about them was completely opposite to each other. While the short light brown-haired Satsuki was friendly and energetic, the tall black-haired Mirei was aloof and grumpy. This difference in personality between them made Satsuki the more popular one between them, causing Mirei to develop an inferiority complex along the way.

With one Suzuki already out of the tournament, Yume wondered if she could have a chance of taking the other out. Though Satsuki was certainly a more experienced Trainer than she was, she was still the least skilled out of their friend group, with everyone already having a solid win against her previously at least twice.

Seeing Satsuki on the other side of the battlefield, Yume released a hand from her Pokéball before throwing it out, while Satsuki also did the same. "Kurotori, I choose you."

As her Corvisquire fluttered down to the ground, Yume saw that Satsuki had sent out her Trubbish Moll. Unlike most Pokémon their friends had, Satsuki had caught him one day when she was picking up trash from the street, and the two were inseparable ever since.

Though a Trubbish didn't seem like a Pokémon that would match Satsuki, this Trainer and Pokémon pair got along surprisingly well, with Satsuki always leaving some trash behind from her regular patrols as snacks for him. Due to the odor Trubbish gave out, there wasn't much chance for Yume to get closer to Moll, so she didn't know any details about him aside from the ones Satsuki gave her.

"Battle start!" Kanade announced, giving Yume quite the rude awakening from her train of thought. Stumbling back and readjusting her glasses, Yume barely caught the first move Satsuki made, with Moll dutifully obeying her orders.

"Use Sludge!" Spitting out a wave of gunk directly at Kurotori, Moll and Satsuki cheered when the attack directly hit their opponent. Unable to react in time, seeing Kurotori getting hurt made Yume feel guilty she wasn't skilled enough to be his Trainer.

Fretting about what to do next, Yume's mind jumped around as she wondered if she should command Kurotori to respond with an attack or dodge in case Satsuki decided to follow up with another attack. However, Kurotori had already made the choice for her, swooping in with a Pluck to attack the unsuspecting Moll and catching Satsuki off-guard.

With Moll being driven backwards, Satsuki realized the previous attack hadn't been ordered by Yume, so she could use this to her advantage. "Moll, throw out a Clear Smog!"

Spraying a cloud of white mist from his mouth, Moll's move created a smokescreen which prevented both Pokémon from seeing each other, but Satsuki was still able to get a glimpse of their silhouettes, relaying what she saw directly to Moll by telling him where to attack next. "Turn left about 30 degrees and use Sludge!"

As another burst of foul-smelling material made its way towards Kurotori, the Corvisquire dodged it instinctively with a flap of his wings, not wanting to get hit by the move again. By this time, Yume had recovered from her bout of inaction, and seeing Kurotori's dodge gave her an idea about what to do next.

"Flap your wings wildly to remove the smog!" she shouted, cupping her hands around her mouth. Hearing his Trainer's first command in the battle, Kurotori then braked in midair before generating the right amount of lift to keep him aloft with his wings, the resulting winds blowing away the persisting visual impediment.

Now that Yume was able to see what was happening on the battlefield again, she then knew what she had to do next. Though Kurotori was able to fight without needing her orders, that was not the point of a Pokémon battle.

"Use Pluck again!" Diving down, Kurotori then used his beak to jab at Moll right as he glided close, then soared back up again to wait for his Trainer's next order. With renewed confidence, Yume decided to attack once more. "Let's try a Fury Attack!"

Though Yume didn't know this, Moll was already low on health from being on the receiving end of Kurotori's strong attacks, and the last thing Satsuki needed was another successful hit that would knock him out. Gripping her hands in fists tightly, Satsuki made a last-ditch attempt to stall her demise. "Moll, use Clear Smog!"

Another plume of white mist appeared on the battlefield, but this trick wouldn't work on Yume anymore. Already knowing what to do in this situation, Kurotori flapped his wings while waiting for his Trainer's next command, and Yume was ready to respond as soon as the last wisps of haze disappeared.

"Continue your Fury Attack!" Gliding down after fixing his wings in one position, Kurotori then rapidly pecked at Moll, the repeated strikes gradually wearing the Trubbish down. Shortly after he began to get exhausted, Kurotori then retreated by circling upwards to the sky, but the battle was already over by that point.

"Trubbish is unable to battle. Yume wins!" Kanade looked at Moll and Satsuki, who was staring at her defeated Trubbish with a dejected look on her face. Recalling Moll back into his Pokéball, Satsuki then went over to the middle of the battlefield to shake Yume's hand, with her taller friend reciprocating in kind.

"That was a good battle, Yume! I'm still surprised this is actually your first time battling! You moved like a pro there!" Satsuki gushed, impressed that her friend had managed to beat her despite the gap in their battling experience.

"I'm quite shocked myself. Since I've never battled before, I didn't expect to win against you, especially with how much longer you've got your Pokémon." The emotions brewing inside Yume were a mix of embarrassment, relief, and excitement after the victory she got against Satsuki, though she wasn't sure which one she should feel.

"All right, now it's time for the next battle: Kanade versus Motomu!" Ririka announced, taking her friend's place as the referee. As she had nowhere else to go, Yume simply recalled Kurotori and went back to Kumiko and Reina's side, wanting to share her feelings with her 'senpais'.

"Kumiko-senpai, Reina-senpai, I managed to win." Yume's airy voice carried the good news over to the couple, who had seen everything that happened during the battle. "How did I do? Was I battling well?"

"You did great!" Kumiko complimented Yume. "To be honest, you did better than me in my first battle. Even though you struggled a bit early on, you still managed to push through and work together with your Pokémon to win. With how you battled alongside your Corvisquire, I almost forgot you just caught him today!"

"That was certainly an impressive display of skill." Reina added on, seeing that Kumiko had already covered most of what she wanted to say. "From what I've seen, you've got some talent as a Trainer. However, there is still at least one more battle ahead of you, so continue to keep your guard up during the next round and push through together with your Pokémon."

"I… uh… thank you very much!" Yume exclaimed. Going into this tournament with completely no expectations, seeing herself win and be praised by two experienced Trainers was a surreal experience for Yume. Who knew she would have some potential as a Trainer?

Focusing back on the battlefield, Yume saw that Kanade and Motomu had taken their places at opposite ends, with Ririka serving as the referee. Upon seeing her orange-haired friend, Yume realized she would have to face the Egg enthusiast next.

While Ririka was definitely a nice girl by any definition of the word, Yume wondered if this attitude also extended to how she battled, having little chance to see her friend who worked at the Day Care fight. Even when she knew what Pokémon Ririka had, the rest was a complete unknown for Yume.

As Kanade sent out her Sneasel Capriccioso and Motomu sent out his Rockruff Lentando, Yume thought this battle could swing either way. Since both Pokémon had been with their respective Trainers for long enough that they could almost be mistaken as their 'signature' Pokémon, they were also some of the strongest on their teams, so there was no way to predict an accurate result from this matchup.

"Battle start!" With Ririka's lively voice sounding through the mostly barren field, both Trainers and their Pokémon sprang into action, each side trying to get as much of an advantage over the other in the pivotal first moments of the battle. In a way, Kanade and Motomu were conveying their relationship with each other with how they battled.

Being the more aggressive of the two, it was Kanade who managed to attack first, ordering Capriccioso to strike with a Metal Claw. With the talons on both his arms gleaming with a silver glow, the Sneasel swiped at Lentando, causing the Rockruff to be knocked backwards by the super-effective move.

Undeterred, Motomu then called for Lentando to use a Rock Tomb, with the Rockruff quickly summoning a stream of boulders directly above Capriccioso. Though Rock-type moves were normally superior against Capriccioso's Ice-type, the Sneasel simply sliced through them with his Metal Claws, making short work of the otherwise deadly move.

Now that his most effective option had been nullified by a simple move from Kanade, Motomu was currently on the ropes despite his supposed advantage in this matchup. This was not going well for him.

Seeing Motomu gnash his teeth in agitation, Yume thought that while Kanade hadn't won the Pokémon battle just yet, she had definitely won the mental fight against Motomu with how she countered Lentando's attacks. By making him feel irritated about his lack of results, Kanade had hampered Motomu's decision-making ability, pushing him back more and more in what was supposed to be an even fight.

Even with Motomu changing tactics and commanding Lentando to use Rock Throw, Capriccioso was quick enough to either slash apart the stones with Metal Claw or dodge them entirely, getting closer to Lentando with each passing moment. In the split second before Capriccioso was in swiping distance of Lentando, Motomu decided to use the final trick up his sleeve. "Bite down with Fire Fang!"

As Lentando's mouth filled itself with blazing embers, Yume wondered if Motomu was about to make a comeback. However, Kanade was also aware of how devastating the super-effective move could be, and gave an order to Capriccioso at the last possible moment. "Dig into the ground with your claws!"

Braking himself in the nick of time, Capriccioso was barely able to avoid Lentando's mouth, and quickly used the resulting momentum to fling himself up in a backflip. With the only deterrent to their victory out of the way, both Trainer and Pokémon had the same thoughts on how to end the battle as Capriccioso plunged downwards and knocked out Lentando with a dual Metal Claw.

"Rockruff is unable to battle. Kanade-chan wins!" Ririka announced. Recalling Lentando back into his Pokéball, Motomu retreated back to the sidelines with a dour look on his face, most likely sulking about his subpar performance in the battle.

Meanwhile, Kanade went over to where Ririka was standing and high-fived her friend as the two swapped positions, with Ririka going over to one side of the battlefield. Taking this as a cue to go over, Yume was about to start walking when she felt a light tap on her shoulder, the sudden action startling her.

"Yume, it's best if you heal up Kurotori before you go." Kumiko advised while holding a bottle of Super Potion in her hand. "Since it's going to be a hassle if you head all the way back to the Pokémon Center, you can use one of my Super Potions. I already have a lot anyways."

"Uh… Kumiko-senpai, thank you very much!" Yume was extremely grateful for her 'senpai's' gift. Despite that earlier SNAFU where she had completely forgotten about Yume's existence, it was clear that Kumiko was genuinely interested in her well-being with everything she had helped Yume do today. "If you don't mind, I'll use it now!"

After Kumiko handed her the Super Potion, Yume sent out Kurotori and pressed the bottle's trigger to give him a spray, the regenerative liquid revitalizing him in an instant. Recalling Kurotori, Yume then went to the opposite side of the battlefield from where Ririka was standing, both girls ready to begin fighting.

Sending out Kurotori, Yume saw Ririka's Growlithe Fuoco emerge from his Pokéball. Despite having hatched from his Egg quite recently, Fuoco had now become one of Ririka's strongest Pokémon thanks to her tender loving care. This was definitely going to be an uphill battle for Yume.

"Battle start!" Kanade announced. Upon hearing her friend's voice, the uneasy thought of facing Kanade in the finals surfaced inside Yume's mind. Out of their friend group, she had the strongest team and the most experience, which would certainly be no easy task to overcome for a newcomer like her.

Of course, that was all assuming she could defeat Ririka now.

"Fire Fang!" In a single bound, Fuoco had closed the distance between himself and Kurotori, ready to score an early advantage straight out of the gate. Seeing the attack come his way, Kurotori simply spiraled to his left, gracefully dodging the pounce without any command from his Trainer.

With Fuoco still shrugging off the momentum from his missed attack, Yume saw this as a signal to strike back. Judging how far Kurotori was from his opponent, Yume then made her decision. "Dive down, then use Pluck!"

Letting himself fall by tucking in his wings, Kurotori opened them again as he glided at a stable speed, then jabbed his beak forward just as his trajectory matched Fuoco's, delivering a swift stab in that instant.

Flapping his wings and soaring back up, Kurotori waited for his Trainer to give out her next orders. Even with this successful attack, there was no telling how the rest of this battle would unfold, so Kurotori would still have to rely on his Trainer's directions if he wanted to win.

As Fuoco got back up, Ririka was slightly disappointed at her sudden upstaging by the supposedly weaker Yume. How was her friend fighting this well when she just caught her first Pokémon today?

Deciding not to ponder on that question and shift her attention back to the battle at hand, Ririka then saw that her opponent's Pokémon was currently out of reach for Fuoco's attacks, but that could be easily remedied through some planning. "Use Flame Wheel, arpeggio!"

Curling up his body as it became wreathed in flames, Fuoco then spun around the battlefield in circles as the surrounding area began to heat up. Looking for an assist, Ririka then spotted what she needed. "Fuoco, angle yourself slightly to the right!"

Changing his trajectory by a small amount, Fuoco quickly collided a small rock. Despite how insignificant this tiny crash seemed, the force which sent Fuoco upwards from his impact was compounded by the rising effect of heat, allowing him to reach where Kurotori was soaring and quickly barrel in.

Sent landing straight towards the ground, Kurotori used his wings to stall himself in the nick of time, but he immediately regretted this decision when Fuoco rolled right into him from above, nearly plowing him into the ground.

Frightened at seeing Kurotori receive this much damage, Yume was extremely worried about his condition. Though Kurotori did suffer damage in his battle versus Satsuki, Fuoco was a completely different beast altogether both figuratively and literally.

However, Yume realized that while Fuoco was extremely close to Kurotori, the reverse was also true as well, which she could use to her advantage. "Kurotori, if you can hear me, use Fury Attack!"

Though she cupped her hands around her mouth again, Yume was afraid that Kurotori wasn't able to hear her as Fuoco kept burrowing down. Her knees growing weak from despair, Yume wondered if this was the end when she saw Fuoco being thrown upwards by a bit at first, then more and more as Kurotori emerged from the ground, exploiting their lack of distance to land as much attacks as possible.

With this rapid barrage, Fuoco was unable to respond despite Ririka trying to find an opportunity for him, which cumulated in him being forced backwards and fainting from the series of fast strikes, causing Yume to breathe a sigh of relief.

"Growlithe is unable to battle. Yume wins!" Kanade annouced, stepping over to 'console' Ririka after her unexpected loss, while also preparing her own Pokéball for the finals. On the other side of the battlefield, Yume was quickly surrounded by Kumiko and Reina, who were both impressed by their 'kouhai's performance.

"Yume, that was amazing!" Kumiko exclaimed, handing her another Super Potion to heal Kurotori with. "Are you sure this is your first time battling? You were a natural out there!"

"Since there's no such thing as beginner's luck, I'm inclined to believe that you have some serious natural talent after you've made it this far against your more experienced friends." Reina commented. "Still, there's one more battle. Keep it up."

"I understand!" Yume stood up after healing Kurotori, ready to face her final opponent. Looking at Kanade at the other end, Yume was still in disbelief that she had reached the finals against all odds, whether by skill or luck.

As Kurotori hopped back into the battlefield, Yume saw Kanade send out Capriccioso again, licking her lips in anticipation of the upcoming battle. With all eyes now focused on the two finalists, the scene was set for the ultimate showdown.

"Battle start!" Ririka announced, breaking the invisible tension into pieces as all hell was let loose. Despite the lack of action on the battlefield, everyone could sense the beginnings of an intense fight.

"Use Ice Shard!" Kanade ordered, and Capriccioso swiped his claws at the air to create crystals of frost which shot towards Kurotori with frightening speed. Despite being able to dodge some of them, the super-effective attack was simply too quick for Kurotori to completely evade. Some frost began to form on Kurotori's wings as Yume countered with her own move.

"Rock Smash!" Swooping in, Kurotori slammed his claws straight into Capriccioso, dealing more damage than both Trainers expected. While Kanade quickly rationalized it as Capriccioso's dual Dark and Ice-types both being weak to the Fighting-type move, she knew that Ice-type was still superior to the Flying-type.

Unlike Ririka, Kanade had more effective options for dealing with airborne opponents, which she determined was why Ririka had lost despite her experience. It was now time for Yume to know her place. "Capriccioso, Ice Shard!"

As more flecks of ice headed towards Kurotori, Yume realized she could tell him how to deal with them instead of having him figure it out on his own. "Use Fury Attack to peck away at any ice coming at you!"

Remaining in place this time around, Kurotori simply used his beak to chip away at the incoming projectiles, reducing most of them to dust. The super-effective attack managed to do quite a fair amount of damage even with the reduced power, but the match started to look more even for Yume.

Kurotori dove down and tried to strike with another Rock Smash following Yume's orders, but Capriccioso simply stepped aside and retaliated with an Ice Shard once Kurotori flew by, hitting him from behind. Now that Kurotori had received a super-effective attack at its full power, Yume realized she thought too optimistically too soon.

Even with Kurotori's wings starting to freeze over again, Yume still held the advantage in this battle with her twice as super-effective move at her disposal. With Kurotori soaring back up, Yume decided to try landing a hit once more. "Rock Smash!"

Seeing Yume do the same thing again despite knowing how badly it ended for her last time, Kanade smirked at her friend's foolishness. After all, beginners would remain beginners. "Capriccioso, Night Slash!"

Preparing his strongest move, Capriccioso waited for Kurotori to reach him, then stretched out his darkness-wreathed claws right as the distance between them was just right. However, Yume knew that Kanade was the type of person who would go in for the kill right at the faintest scent of blood, which she used to her advantage. "Glide back up, then strike down!"

Pulling himself skywards before Capriccioso's claws could touch him, Kurotori tucked his wings in and spiraled downwards, using the extra momentum gained to deliver a critical hit on Capriccioso. With the double super-effectiveness this move had, Capriccioso had no chance of staying conscious after that particularly fatal strike.

"Sneasel… is unable to battle. Yume emerges victorious!" Ririka announced, shocked that Kanade had lost despite the numerous advantages she had over Yume. Recalling Capriccioso back into his Pokéball, Kanade then went over Yume's side and shook hands with her, though there was an expression on her face Kumiko couldn't read.

"Congratulations, Yume." Kanade's tone was as ambiguous as her face. While there was obviously goodwill in her voice, Kumiko suspected that Kanade was more upset and jealous at Yume's success than she outwardly showed. "That was a great battle you gave me."

"N-No, Kanade. That honor should be mine. I'm thankful I got to fight you." Yume replied. "I mean, I also didn't expect I'd make it this far and fight against you, much less win, so I'm grateful for this chance."

"Fair enough. That was certainly a good fight, but let's see how we measure up to each other the next time we meet on the battlefield." Turning away from Yume, Kanade went over to the approaching Kumiko and Reina, preparing to give them a request only they could fulfill.

* * *

A/N: After this chapter, To Be A Solister will unfortunately be on hiatus until mid-July, as I need to complete another KyoAni-related fanfic project which will be released around then. To tide you over for the time being, I will be releasing a series of To Be A Solister-related shorts as a separate story every day starting next Thursday, which will continue until mid-July.

While I'm sure many of you will miss getting your weekly dose of Kumiko and Reina's Pokémon adventures, pausing To Be A Solister for this long was also a difficult decision for me to make, so I hope that you will also enjoy the daily shorts I've planned. Stay tuned to see what they're about!


	43. Chapter 43: Otanjyoubi Omedetou, Natsuki

_1 day before…_

"So, I was talking to Nozomi a while ago about how she needed to be direct with Mizore if she wanted to get closer to her." Yuuko ranted. "Of course, you'd think she'd agree with what I suggested, right? Well, Nozomi just laughed it off and said that Mizore's the type of person not to outwardly show her feelings as much as most people, so there's very little way of knowing what goes on inside Mizore's mind. That doesn't even relate to the issue I was telling Nozomi about!"

"Aggh, why does their relationship have to be so complicated?" Natsuki ran her fingers through her hair in anguish. "If either of them was just a bit more honest with the other, then we all wouldn't be in this pickle of trying to help them get closer! What's so hard about two people who like each other not being able to hook up? It doesn't make sense at all!"

"Natsuki, you of all people should know relationships don't work like that." Yuuko pointed out the obvious flaws in Natsuki's words. "We aren't all perfectly logical robots designed to make the most rational decision every time. That's just wistful thinking. Instead, we fallible human beings should use our powers of judgement to make the most appropriate decision in the context we are presented. The choices we make may not be correct, but at least we made them without being unsure of ourselves."

"Bah, stop getting philosophical on me here, princess." Natsuki was starting to get fed-up at how Yuuko was derailing their conversation. Listening to Yuuko talk about these sorts of topics wasn't the reason she had decided to invite her out here in the first place. "While I'm not as close with either of them as you are, I'm still friends with Nozomi and Mizore. There should still be some way I can help them with their issues."

"The best way to help would be to keep your mouth shut." Fed up at how Natsuki was trying to dismiss her advice as being philosophical (did that girl even know what philosophy was?), Yuuko decided to give her a piece of her mind. "With your mouth present at the scene, I can guarantee you're only going to making things worse between them. Let me handle it."

"Feh! And end up back where you started?" Natsuki retorted. Yuuko was flat-out rejecting her help just like that? Did being friends with the two people involved not count for anything? "Well, whatever you say. You try and resolve everything using what the advice you gave me. I'm outta here."

Slamming down the exact amount of money she needed to pay her share of the bill, Natsuki stormed out of the restaurant as she left a Yuuko staring in shock. Stretching her arms in the air after that stressful argument, Natsuki let out a yawn as she breathed in the fresh air of Perto City. Coming here really was the right choice.

Choosing this restaurant was no accident, since it also happened to be the same place she had met Asuka a while back. For some reason, the Elite Four member who considered Natsuki to be her 'lovely kouhai' (Natsuki almost retched at that combination of words) was also in the sleepy Perto City. While Natsuki didn't really get everything she said, Asuka did mention she was here to 're-evaluate some past results'.

"_By the way, do you have any interest in becoming my aide? You're the only person I have in mind for that!_" Natsuki recalled Asuka's proposition, to which she had offered a swift rebuke. "_Not only is the pay good, but you get to work for me! A perfect opportunity to learn from the best!_"

"Why did that have to come up now?" Natsuki muttered to herself, agitated that thoughts of Asuka Tanaka were coursing through her mind yet again. They could at least ask for permission next time. "I swear, I'll kick Asuka where it hurts the next time I see her!"

"Kanade-chan, did that girl mention Asuka just now?" Natsuki heard a voice pipe up from behind her. Turning around, she saw a girl with long auburn hair and amber eyes talking to another girl with short black hair and scarlet eyes. "Maybe she can help us with the problem we're facing!"

"Yes she did, Ririka-chan. If she's as familiar with Asuka as she's suggesting she is, then we're in for a treat here." Red Eyes replied as she turned to Natsuki. "Excuse me, how familiar are you with the Elite Four member Asuka Tanaka?"

"She's a real pain in the butt. Next question." Natsuki nonchalantly answered, then realized she was talking to a complete stranger. "Hang on a moment. Who are you, and why are you asking me a question like that? I have a right to know, damn it!"

"Sorry, sorry. My friend gets a bit excited whenever someone mentions Asuka." Brown Hair replied. "I'm Ririka Kenzaki, and my Asuka-crazy friend over there is Kanade Hisaishi. Pleased to meet you."

"Natsuki Nakagawa. Likewise." Shaking Ririka's cardigan-shrouded hand, Natsuki then decided to ask what they needed her for. While name-dropping an Elite Four member by their first name that casually was bound to raise a few questions, Natsuki had never seen someone so interested in Asuka before. "Why did you react that way when I mentioned Asuka? Do you have some sort of connection with her or something?"

"No, but any Trainer that she recognizes is bound to be a good Trainer." Kanade explained. "From the way you dissed her without a care, you've definitely met Asuka before _and_ got close with her. That means you're strong enough to help us!"

"Yeah, so she tried to get me to apprentice under her and I didn't feel like doing that at the time. So what?" Her own grievances against Asuka aside, Natsuki was still intrigued by what problem the girls were facing. "What do you need help with? I'm here all day."

"Um… well… we lost our friend in the forest nearby." Kanade admitted. "Her name's Yume Kohinata. She wears glasses, and has her brown hair in a single long braid. It's filled with strong Pokémon, and since Ririka and myself aren't full-fledged Trainers yet, we were looking to see if there were any strong Trainers around to help us look for her there."

"Yeah, fine. I'll help you." Natsuki normally didn't feel this altruistic, but she wanted to prove to Yuuko that she was good enough to solve anyone's problems, even those of complete strangers. "One lost friend, coming right up!"

"Man, I didn't realize this forest was _that_ dense. How did Nozomi even make her way around here?" Natsuki complained to herself as she tore through yet another handful of foliage. "I really hope their friend hasn't gotten herself too lost in here. The last thing I need is to get stuck myself!"

Gnashing her teeth together, Natsuki continued to make her way through the thick greenery, madly sweating as she brushed more of it aside. The clustered trees prevented heat and moisture from rising above their cover, causing the forest to be hotter and more humid compared to its surroundings.

As her signature 'CEMENT ADDICTION' shirt became caked with too much sweat to bear, Natsuki realized she had no other choice but to take it off. Thankful she was wearing a sport bra underneath to protect her modesty, Natsuki then wadded up her T-shirt as she ran it through her hair, wiping off the excess sweat which had gathered there over time.

Groaning as she tried to mop up moisture from the strands of her hair, only now did Natsuki realize just how inconvenient having long hair was when it came to physical activity. Since she rarely needed to exert herself that much, Natsuki was shielded from the worst of its effects by what Yuuko called her 'slacker' tendencies, but she was now starting to reconsider letting her hair continue to grow out.

"Hmm, I wonder how I would look with short hair." Natsuki pondered to herself, taking a break from searching. Greedily gulping down some water from her bottle, Natsuki continued to muse on that idea. "Maybe a pixie cut? Pageboy cut? Or something else entirely? Yeah, completely changing my hairstyle would definitely give Princess a surprise. She won't know what hit her!"

Laughing to herself at her silly thoughts, it was then that Natsuki heard a distressed cry of help ring through the forest. Stuffing her damp T-shirt into her bag as she looked around to see which direction it came from, Natsuki then began to run to her left upon hearing a second scream, pinpointing the sound's location.

Quickly making her way through the forest, Natsuki then arrived at a wide-open clearing, where she could finally see just what was going on. Surrounding a girl who Natsuki presumed was Yume were three Trevenant, all of them staring menacingly at the cowering girl.

"Hey! Pick on someone your own size!" Natsuki yelled at the Trevenant, drawing their attention. As they scampered towards her, Natsuki knew she had to make good on her promise and rescue Yume, so she sent out her Pokémon to fight the trio of Trevenant. "Largo, let's take it steady!"

As her Slaking emerged from his Pokéball, Natsuki sent out her Musharna Zenzense as well. Since she didn't know how long defeating the Trevenant would take, suddenly falling asleep half-way was the last thing Natsuki wanted.

"Largo, Fire Punch!" Natsuki called out. Lunging forward at the nearest Trevenant with surprising speed, Largo then delivered a fiery right hook towards its head, knocking it out in one blow. However, he then collapsed to the ground and began to slack off, preventing him from attacking consecutively. This was the side effect of his Ability Truant, which forced him to rest for a period of time before moving again.

Being her starter Pokémon, Natsuki had devised several countermeasures beforehand to prevent Largo's cumbersome Ability from being a hindrance in battle, which involved her other Pokémon. This was the other reason she had sent out Zenzense. "Use a Skill Swap on Largo, then another on one of the Trevenant!"

Two orbs of light were exchanged between Zenzense and Largo, then between the nearest conscious Trevenant and Zenzense again. Now being freed from his figurative shackles, Largo quickly put the two other Trevenant out of action with a double Fire Punch.

"Th-thanks for saving me back there, miss." Yume looked at Natsuki, then stood up and dusted herself off. "But how did you know I was going to be here? Did someone tell you I was lost, or did you just so happen to stumble upon me randomly?"

"Your friends Kanade and Ririka told me you were lost somewhere in this forest, and asked me to search for you." Natsuki explained, to which Yume's glasses turned opaque for a split second. "Natsuki Nakagawa, at your service."

"Th-thank you for fighting off those Trevenant, Miss Nakagawa." Yume tripped over her words, still a bit shook from being stuck between three imposing Pokémon. "Well then, I think it's time for us to get back. There's only a couple of hours until it's going to turn dark, so we'd better return quickly."

"Sure. Let's get outta here." Gesturing for Yume to follow her, Natsuki then began to make her way out of the forest, occasionally looking back to make sure Yume hadn't lost herself again. As she turned right for what seemed like the umpteenth time in a row, Natsuki then realized she didn't know where she was actually heading, only basing her directions on her faulty memories.

"Miss Nakagawa, are you sure this is the right way?" Yume asked, worried that the two of them wouldn't get back to Perto City before dusk. "I think we've already passed by this point for the third time already."

"Give me some time here. This forest is so big, it's a miracle if you _don't_ get lost here." A cursory glance at her phone's location app revealed that there was no signal in the area, so that idea was now out of the window. Shoving her phone back into her pocket, Natsuki was about to try and delve deeper into her memories for more information when she heard a low hum.

Trying to gauge where it was coming from, the ominous noise filled Natsuki's ears to the point that it prevented her from thinking clearly. As Yume hid behind her back in fear, Natsuki then readied her Pokéballs as she saw glowing red eyes start to emerge from the encroaching darkness.

All at once, a gigantic swarm of Beedrill flew out from all directions and blitzed directly towards Natsuki and Yume, smelling the proverbial blood in the water. Knowing no other way to get out of this situation, Natsuki sent out three of her Pokémon. "Nocturne, Berceuse, Samson, it's all up to you now!"

Having recently evolved, Nocturne's increased strength and speed as a Mismagius allowed her to act first, quickly firing out alternating barrages of Mystical Fire and Power Gem to swiftly knock away the first hordes of Beedrill. Meanwhile, Berceuse leaned on her log and began to roll around the area, thinning out the swarm's core. Being a Komala, she was never once awake during her Rollout rampage.

Before the rear guard knew what hit them, Samson struck first. Weaving in and out of the shadows, Samson used his Shadow Claws to incapacitate any straggling Beedrill, retreating before a counterattack could be mounted. After taking out the last of a horde, his instincts as a Sableye took over upon spotting a shiny rock, and he went over to munch on it.

After a surprisingly short amount of time, all of the Beedrill had fainted and were now laying on the floor. Breathing heavily while recalling her Pokémon, Natsuki then started to feel cold as the sun approached the horizon. Slipping her 'CEMENT ADDICTION' shirt on again, it smelt like a mix body odor and the sandwich she bought three weeks ago (why was that still in her bag?) as it came into contact with her body.

"There. That should be the last of our troubles." Making a show of dusting her hands off, Natsuki turned to Yume, who had been impressed by that show of strength. "Now let's REALLY get going. I'm starting to get sick and tired of this forest."

As they were about to depart for the second time, Natsuki then heard several growls around them as a bunch of Ursaring burst out and lunged at them. With nearly all her Pokémon worn out from fighting the Trevenant and the Beedrill, Natsuki was still prepared to fight off the Ursaring when she realized there was a simpler solution.

"Screw this. Let's go home now!" Grabbing ahold of Yume's wrist, Natsuki then sent out her Meowstic Soul and ordered him to use Teleport. Reappearing back in Perto City an instant later, Natsuki and Yume then walked around until they found Kanade and Ririka. The two girls who tasked Natsuki with finding their friend were currently waiting for seats, coincidentally at the exact same restaurant she was dining at with Yuuko earlier today.

"Yo. Here's your buddy back. You're welcome." Lightly thrusting Yume back at Kanade and Ririka, Natsuki was about to leave the three younger girls when she heard them call out to her.

"Thanks for your hard work!" Though their voices were a bit desynchronized, the intent behind their words was clear. Happy that she had helped someone today (and proven Yuuko wrong), Natsuki gave Kanade, Ririka, and Yume a wave of farewell as she walked away, going back to the life of a wandering Trainer again. However, fate caught up to her sooner than she realized.

As she reached the outskirts of Perto City, Natsuki then heard the familiar wingbeats of a Tropius. Looking up, she saw the eponymous Pokémon swoop down at her before she felt herself being dragged up by a certain someone sitting on the Fruit Pokémon's back. Already knowing who it was before turning her head, Natsuki came face-to-face with with Asuka Tanaka yet again.

"Hello there, Nakagawa-chan." Asuka playfully 'greeted' her kouhai. "We've got a lot to catch up on, and I'm not taking 'NO!' for an answer this time! Prepare to get pushed and tested to your ultimate limits!"

* * *

A/N: Surprise! Bet you didn't think I would take a break from taking a break to write this, did you?

Happy birthday, Natsuki! From being a slacker in the first few episodes of Season 1 to helping to lead the band as vice-president in Chikai, you've certainly grown a lot over the course of the series. Honestly speaking, that is some impressive character development, so I have to admit you're in my top 5 characters. While your story may be (almost) over in canon, that doesn't mean you're going to be left alone here!

Since Ririka and Mizore's birthdays are 7 and 9 days from now (June 30th and July 2nd) respectively, I've decided to tie in Natsuki's birthday chapter to theirs (which will also release on their birthdays), so this is actually the first part of a three-part story. Stay tuned to see what surprises the oboes' chapters will bring!


	44. Chapter 44: Otanjyoubi Omedetou, Ririka

"It's a relief we managed to get Yume back before anything bad happened to her." Kanade commented as she dug into her meat doriya. "Thank Arceus we found a strong Trainer who could rescue her from the forest. With all the monstrously strong Pokémon in there, I'd never go there alone in a million years."

"Yeah, but it's almost impossible to avoid the forest when we live so close to it." Ririka noted while twirling up another forkful of spaghetti carbonara. "And besides, isn't it fun to go in there and explore? If it wasn't for Yume suddenly getting lost, then I'd say our trip there today was quite productive, don't you agree?"

"Um, you do realize I'm right here, you know?" Sipping her citrus juice, Yume looked at Kanade and Ririka as her glasses turned slightly opaque. "I know I got lost because I was walking slower than you two, but the scariest part about that was how several Trevenant found me first. Forget being stuck there, I'm more afraid of suddenly running into wild Pokémon!"

"Hmm, you do have a point." Kanade mused, taking a drink of her melon soda. "So it's not that the forest is easy to get lost in, it's the risk of being attacked by the powerful Pokémon in there. We've got our own Pokémon to defend ourselves, but they're too weak compared to the Pokémon living in the forest… Oh, I know! Why don't we train up our Pokémon so that they're strong enough to fight against the forest Pokémon!"

"And how do you suggest we do that, Kanade-chan?" Ririka asked, leaning forward towards Kanade's face. "The only area with enough Pokémon for us to fight is the forest, and there's no way of telling which Pokémon we can or can't defeat. We're back to square one before we've even started."

"Gaaah! Why do you always have to find the holes in my plans, Ririka-chan?!" Kanade vented in anguish, her overreaction spooking Yume a bit. "At least let me have a bit of fun here! We've already got full teams of six Pokémon, yet we've got to wait a few more months before we can set out on our journeys? I want to fight someone else, damn it!"

"Fighting someone else…" Ririka pondered on what Kanade said for a few moments, then it clicked for her. "I know! Why don't we host a tournament between ourselves to find the strongest Trainer between all of us! That way, we can hone our battling skills and give our Pokémon more experience fighting! It's a win-win!"

"Good idea, Ririka-chan!" Kanade's eyes lit up in enthusiasm upon hearing Ririka's suggestion. "Since all of us don't have anything to do for the next few days, why don't we host it tomorrow? It may be a bit impromptu, but I'm sure everyone can make it! What do you say to that?"

"Tomorrow's the only day I don't have a shift at the Day Care, so that works for me." Ririka replied, impressed that Kanade had somehow read her mind. "Now all that's left is to tell the others, find somewhere we can fight, and draw up a bracket to see who's fighting who! Then that's everything settled!"

"Um… I hate to tell you this, but I can't participate in tomorrow's tournament." Yume muttered awkwardly, reminding Kanade and Ririka that she was still here. "You see, all of the Eggs you gave me still haven't hatched yet, so I actually don't have any Pokémon I can fight with. Sorry if I'm letting you down."

"Relax. We'll cross that bridge when we come to it." Patting her on the shoulder, Kanade's gesture of reassurance felt oddly hollow to Yume. "Until then, we're still putting you on the shortlist. Six people is an easier number to work with than five, so get ready to fight tomorrow. With your bare hands, if necessary."

With Yume too afraid to complain further, Ririka decided to step in with her own piece of advice. "If you want your Eggs to hatch faster, stuff them all into your bag and run around. I know that sounds crazy, but it's been scientifically proven to work. Hopefully at least one of them will hatch before tomorrow."

"Thanks, Ririka. I'll try out your idea tonight." Yume lowered her head in gratitude, happy that there was at least one person on her side. "I'll be leaving now, so thanks for having dinner with me. See you tomorrow."

Leaving the exact amount of money needed to pay her share of the bill, Yume stood up and lowered her head one last time before heading out. Waving goodbye to her, Kanade and Ririka were now free to discuss their machinations away from any prying ears. Leaning closer to each other, their foreheads were almost touching now.

"So, Kanade-_chan_." Ririka began, placing extra emphasis on the affectionate honorific. "Since I've already proposed the idea of hosting a tournament, now it's your turn to help me flesh it out. Or would you prefer saddling all the hard work on little old me, like you always do?"

"For someone so cute, you really do drive a hard bargain sometimes, Ririka-_chan_." Kanade replied, also accentuating the honorific to match Ririka. She would never lose her lead to Ririka. Never. "If you think you're unable to handle all that by yourself, then feel free to lean on my shoulder. Preferably sobbing into my shirt like the big baby you are."

"Aww, Kanade-chan. You big meanie." Mockingly sticking out her tongue at Kanade, Ririka then winked before continuing her conversation. "With the matter of your assistance of the way, I'll let the rest of our friends know we're hosting the tournament tomorrow. If they're not there, then I'll make sure they'll be square!"

"Alright. Now all that's left is to find somewhere we can use as a battlefield and decide who's fighting who." As Ririka frantically typed on her phone, Kanade recounted what they still needed to do. "Should we go take a walk around town to scout out some possible locations? Sitting here and doing nothing isn't going to do anything for us."

"Well, at least it's doing something for me, Kanade-chan." Ririka countered, finishing up the last sentence she was typing. "While you were sitting there looking all cute, I just got confirmations from everyone that they were able to come! Isn't that wonderful, Kanade-chan? Now everyone can get stronger together with us!"

"Setting up the stage for our grand plan? That's my Ririka-chan." Getting closer to Ririka, Kanade couldn't resist but pet Ririka on the head for all the work she did, fondling her pompadour-like topknot using her fingers. "Now that we know everyone's going to be here, time to find somewhere for us to battle!"

After paying the bill, Kanade and Ririka headed out of the restaurant, their hands slowly intertwining with each other's as they walked down the street together. The sky dimming above their heads, Ririka was wondering how they could search for a possible location as night approached when a streetlight flared, revealing a potential area for tomorrow's activities.

"Hey, Kanade-chan." Ririka lightly poked her friend in the shoulder. "Maybe we could host our tournament in that park over there! Not only does it have a wide-open space filled with greenery, but it's far enough from any buildings so that we won't get complaints for making a ruckus! How does that sound?"

"I like your idea, but there's just a teeny-tiny little problem with it." Kanade remembered what people often said about this park. "You do know that the park is also a hot-spot for couples going on dates, right? Which means…"

"I get it. If you don't want to fight here, then that's OK with me as well." Though she was definitely intrigued by what Kanade mentioned, Ririka continued to rack her brain for more options. As she had conceded to Kanade's objections, Ririka was now back to square one. "Let's see here… aside from the park, we've also got the fields on the outskirts of town, the vacant lot near the shopping mall, and the battlefield outside the Pokémon Center…"

Not wanting to disturb Ririka's musings, Kanade decided to plop herself down on a nearby bench and enjoy the evening breeze by herself. Casually kicking her legs in the air to pass the time, one of Kanade's feet was intercepted in midair as Ririka caught it while coming over, and sat down right next to her. The distance between them was closer than what most people would consider 'friendly'.

"I've got it!" Ririka's eyes brightened as she laid out her suggestion to Kanade. "Why don't we fight at the fields next to Mizo-senpai's house? They should be large enough so that we don't accidentally destroy anything nearby, and I'm sure she won't mind. After all, I'm her lovely 'kouhai'!"

"That's all swell and splendid, except for the fact that she barely acknowledges you exist in the first place." Now it was Kanade's turn to burst Ririka's bubble. "However, I'm sure that as long as the fields are large enough, she won't even notice we're even there. You're a genius, Ririka-chan!"

"Thank you very much, Kanade-chan." Ririka exclaimed in mock flattery upon hearing Kanade's words of praise. "Then I'll tell everyone to meet there tomorrow. Now all that's left is to decide who's going up against who."

"Shouldn't we go over to scout out the fields near your 'senpai's' household first?" Kanade asked, tilting her head at Ririka. "We should go over there and make sure it's suitable for battling. I don't want any of us or our Pokémon tripping over rocks while we're there. To help us, I've even got a flashlight app on my phone so we can look around without tripping over ourselves."

"In a moment." Ririka stretched her arms in the air, feeling the wind coursing below her arms. "Let's focus on drawing up a bracket for now, alright? I'm actually quite stuffed after eating such a hearty dinner, and I'm sure there's nothing to worry about using the fields outside Mizo-senpai's home. I've been there a few times myself, so I'm personally vouching for that option."

"Is that because of the countless nights you've spent camping outside your 'senpai's' house?" Kanade retorted, recalling the moment she caught Ririka in the act. "You stalker. I still can't belive you resorted to those sorts of underhanded tricks to win over her longing heart. How underhanded of you."

"Waaah! Kanade-chan's bullying me again! Someone save me!" Ririka cried out to no one in particular, then her expression shifted to a more devious one. "For her punishment, Kanade-chan will help me decide the bracket for our upcoming tournament. How does that sound, Miss Big Bully?"

"You were planning to do that right from the beginning, so I'll join you on your merry crusade anyways." Kanade replied. "For starters, we've got to decide if we're making this a single or double elimination bracket. If we're going for a double elimination bracket, it could give someone who's lost in the first round to make a comeback through the loser's bracket. They could even have a chance of fighting against the winner of the main bracket in the grand finals! How exciting is that?"

"Nah. That would take too long. Besides, one bracket is much easier to manage. Also, let's have everyone only use one Pokémon. That should make things go a lot faster." Ririka countered with her own suggestions. While she had previously pondered the possibility of having a loser's bracket, Ririka mentally shot it down upon realizing its drawbacks. "How about who's going up against who? Got any ideas?"

"Since there are going to be six people battling it out, two people need to be 'seeds' in the second round to make things even." While Ririka was the one who was best at math in their friend group, that didn't mean Kanade completely sucked at that subject. "We're the most experienced Trainers, so why don't we be the 'seeds'? That way, whoever wins in the first round will fight one of us."

"Exactly what I was thinking, Kanade-chan." In truth, Ririka had already laid out a basic outline of how she envisioned the tournament would go, and was only waiting for Kanade to help her fill in the details. Now all that remained was deciding the matchups for the initial round. "With that out of the way, would you be so kind as to help me decide which of our friends will be fighting each other first?"

"I'll gladly help you with that, Ririka-chan." Kanade responded as she mused on who she should pair up. "Let's see here. Even if we assume that Yume can get a Pokémon by tomorrow, she's still got virtually no battling experience. That means there's only one person who she could fight: Sac-chan."

"You're right on the money there, Kanade-chan." Ririka smiled as she saw how Kanade was following the breadcrumbs she laid out. "So Motomu and Mic-chan will be fighting each other. Neat. There's just one last thing we have to deal with now: who are we battling in the second round? I personally don't have any preference. Do you?"

"I'd like to fight either Motomu or Mic-chan, which should leave you with Satsuki or Yume." Kanade knew that Ririka would be satisfied with that arrangement, so she kicked back and relaxed herself. "Ahhh. I'm beat from thinking that much. Why don't we go check out the fields near your 'senpai's' house to seal the deal? You should have already digested your meal by now."

"Alright then! It's time to seize my destiny and get closer to Mizo-senpai… or at least her home!" With everything else now done and dusted, Ririka happily clasped her hands together. "Let's get going, Kanade-chan!"

Dragging Kanade by the arm, Ririka made her way across town towards Mizore's house, enthusiastically humming to herself as she walked through the night. The lights emanating from nearby buildings decreasing as they got farther from the city center, Ririka and Kanade eventually reached the edges of the Yoroizuka household, where they soon saw someone completely unexpected.

"Mizo-senpai…" Ririka breathed out in abject confusion. "What… what are you doing out here?"

* * *

A/N: Happy Birthday, Ririka! While you were completely cut out in Chikai, your appearance in Liz has charmed enough people to make you be considered a fan favourite. Your relationship with Mizore was certainly adorable and endearing, but I wished we could have seen you interacting with Kumiko and Kanade in anime form. Here's to hoping you get some well-deserved scenes in the eventual adaptation of the third year novels!

On another note, please remember that Mizore's birthday is only two days from now, so stay tuned for the last chapter in this three-part birthday bonanza!


	45. Chapter 45: Otanjyoubi Omedetou, Mizore

"Hey, Mizore." Nozomi waved her hand in front of Mizore's face, drawing attention to herself. "Did you know that I received an invitation from Miss Ogasawara of the Elite Four a few days ago? I wonder if she's actually going forward with the Service Club idea we talked about a few months back?"

"Perhaps." Mizore flatly responded as she thought back to her own battle against Ogasawara. While that was her first time meeting the Elite Four member, Mizore saw that Ogasawara and Nozomi were already quite friendly with each other, but she didn't press further in the moment. "What was in the invitation?"

"Not much. She asked me to meet her in Minant City early tomorrow morning, and bring all my Pokémon along with me." Nozomi answered. "But one thing I found strange about that was how vague Haruka's message sounded. She doesn't talk to people like that, so I think it was written by someone else on her behalf. Maybe someone else in the Elite Four?"

"Alright. How long will you be gone for?" Truth be told, Mizore wasn't really interested in Nozomi's dealings with Ogasawara, but rather the fact that her special one would be gone from her side for a few days. While Mizore was no stranger to being separated with Nozomi for long periods of time, this was going to hurt even more with how much time they had spent together recently.

"I don't really know, but the invitation said that I should bring my overnight stuff with me, so maybe two or three days." Nozomi suggested, causing Mizore's eyes to widen at what she said. For Mizore, not being able to be by Nozomi's side for that period of time was unthinkable. How would she cope?

"I see…" Mizore's voice trailed off with resignation as she processed Nozomi's answer, but she still couldn't accept it. If there was any way she could still be with Nozomi, Mizore would gladly take up the offer.

"Oh well, I've already accepted Haruka's invitation, so there's no turning back now." Finishing the last bits of okra on her plate, Nozomi stood up and put down the exact amount of money needed for her share of the bill, matching the amount of money Mizore had already contributed. "If you don't mind, I'll take the bill to the counter for you, OK? Since I've still got to prepare for tomorrow, I need to go home early, so this is where we say goodbye for now."

"OK then. Goodbye." Lightly waving her hand at Nozomi, Mizore slumped forward as her special one left the table they had been sharing for dinner. Popping one of the complimentary soda-pop sweets offered at the table into her mouth, the fizzy taste briefly stalled Mizore's dour mood, but there was little it could do to prevent the wave of emotions about to crash down on her.

Standing in the fields outside of her home, Mizore looked up at the sky. Despite the night view being exceedingly spectacular with how far away she was from the city center, the only thing on Mizore's mind right now was Nozomi. Alone beneath the cosmos, even the heavens above couldn't fulfil Mizore's worldly desires.

"Mizo-senpai…" Hearing a lone voice pierce the darkness, Mizore stopped staring at the stars to look behind her, confused as to where it came from. Her eyes adjusting to the encroaching darkness, Mizore could now see two figures approaching her. Upon closer inspection, it became clear to her that the duo consisted of Kenzaki and her friend… Hisaishi, was it?

"What… what are you doing out here?" Confused by Kenzaki's query, Mizore could only stare in her direction, unsure how to respond to that question. However, she was just as confused by how Kenzaki ended up here in the first place.

"Kenzaki." Trying to begin a sentence, Mizore had completely no idea was to say. The only word which could escape from the vacuum of her mouth was the name of who she saw in front of her. Caught in a situation she hadn't foreseen, Mizore's mind ground to a halt. "What are you doing here?"

In that moment, the only response Mizore could offer was throwing Ririka's question back at her. Despite how flimsy answering like that was on paper, Mizore's relative aloofness unintentionally made her reply sound intimidating, spooking both Kanade and Ririka.

"Well… um…" Despite how close she claimed her relationship to Mizore was, Ririka was completely caught off-guard with how her 'senpai' seemed to be shooting her down almost instantly. Thrust under the spotlight by her own actions, Ririka impulsively blurted out the first thought which came to her mind. "Please have a battle with me!"

Without restraint, one of Ririka's deepest desires rang true through the night. Though her words reached Mizore's ears, Kanade had also heard them as well, and was shocked at what Ririka proposed. They had come here to scout out the area for tomorrow's tournament, not to randomly pick fights with other Trainers!

"Now?" While Mizore certainly did not expect Kenzaki to make such a request, she assumed that this proposal was deadly serious. Arriving at her home at such a late hour just to issue a challenge was impressive by any standard, so Mizore decided to honor Kenzaki's determination. "That's alright. We can battle here."

"Wait, what? You can't just up and do that-" Kanade's protests at both Ririka and Mizore's spur-of-the-moment decisions were quickly clamped down by a hand over her mouth, courtesy of Ririka. Smiling at her 'senpai', Ririka happily replied to Mizore. "Thank you very much! I'll be sure to cherish this opportunity!"

Continuing to gag Kanade while dragging her along, Ririka followed her 'senpai' over to an area of the clearing completely devoid of grass. Judging by the strange marks on the ground and its proximity to Mizore's home, Ririka guessed that this was where Mizore usually trained.

"We'll battle here. This will be a six-on-six battle. First person to have all their Pokémon knocked out loses." Mizore bluntly addressed Ririka, who was still ecstatic at the terms her 'senpai' had offered. Having the chance to fight all of Mizore's Pokémon? That was an opportunity which Ririka couldn't afford to pass up.

"Yay! Then I'll send out my first Pokémon right now!" Freeing Kanade from her grasp, Ririka then reached for one of her Pokéballs as she eagerly anticipated which of Mizore's Pokémon she would face first. Throwing it out excitedly, Ririka wanted to make a good impression in front of Mizore. "Piacevole, let's show Mizo-senpai what we're made of!"

After seeing a Happiny appearing from Kenzaki's Pokéball, Mizore knew that this was going to be a lopsided fight no matter which of her Pokémon she used. As Kenzaki wasn't old enough to go on her own journey yet, that meant her Pokémon wouldn't have enough experience to get stronger and evolve.

Despite knowing every move would certainly lead to her victory, Mizore still wanted to respect Kenzaki's request. Having little other choice to even the odds, Mizore decided to send out her newest team member to give Kenzaki a fighting chance. "Volante, take to the skies."

Ririka instantly burst into a grin as she saw a Togetic come out from the Pokéball Mizore threw out, instinctively knowing it had hatched from the very same Egg she gave her 'senpai' a while back. "Ohmygosh! You've already evolved your Togepi into a Togetic? That's awesome, Mizo-senpai!"

"Thank you." Mizore's reply was curt. As she had handled some of her Pokémon's Eggs before, Mizore knew how to care for Volante before and after she hatched. Training and evolving her wasn't a problem either, with the rest of Mizore's Pokémon being quite helpful in that regard. "Should we battle now? I'll let you go first."

"Alright then! Thanks, Mizo-senpai!" Her heart pounding in her chest, Ririka still couldn't believe she was about to battle Mizore. With everything that had happened today, getting the chance to face off against her 'senpai' was clearly the cherry on top! "Then here I go! Piacevole, Psychic!"

Despite mustering up all her strength to fire it out, Piacevole's Psychic was easily dodged by Volante, who simply swooped up to avoid the attack. Now hovering above her opponent, Volante patiently waited for an order from her Trainer.

Slipping a reed in her mouth, Mizore then took out an instrument case and began assembling her oboe. Looking on with great interest, Ririka's attention was fully captured by Mizore's smooth movements. However, that fleeting moment of senpai adoration had caused Ririka to forget she could attack while Mizore was distracted.

"Use Psychic again and again!" Quickly capitalizing on her slowly diminishing opportunity, Ririka ordered Piacevole to launch several blasts at Volante, hoping to deal some damage before Mizore had a chance to respond. Though nearly all of them were dodged with little effort, one burst eventually clipped Volante's wing, but it did so little damage that it couldn't even be counted as a flesh wound.

Once Mizore's oboe was fully assembled, she ran her fingers across its keys before playing the melody of Bach's 'Air' on it. Upon hearing the somber melody make its way through the starry night, Ririka was immediately captivated, unable to move until she saw an Air Slash from Volante approaching Piacevole.

"Dodge!" Ririka cried out at the last second, but by then it was already too late. In a single move, Piacevole had been knocked back and was rendered unconscious. Though Volante had hatched more recently compared to Piacevole, the vast gap in power between them signified how different their Trainers' skill level was.

Recalling Piacevole as she let out a sigh, Ririka saw that Mizore was currently standing completely still, not even making a single movement. Unable to comprehend her senpai's strange behaviour, Ririka decided to send out her next Pokémon instead. "Fuoco, get fired up!"

A Growlithe emerging from the Pokéball Kenzaki threw out, Mizore's eye twitched a little, but there was no need for concern right now. Though Volante's Fairy-type moves were ineffective against Fire-type Pokémon, her secondary Flying-type would more than make up for it.

"Flame Charge!" Dashing forward and leaping up into the air, Fuoco attempted to get close to Volante, but his bold movements were easily readable. Swiftly evading yet again, Volante then launched out another Air Slash upon hearing Mizore resume playing 'Air'. The lack of distance between them meant that Fuoco was slammed back into the ground rather quickly, resulting in another knockout.

Despite two of her Pokémon already fallen victim to Volante, Ririka was still grateful for being able to battle with Mizore. Seeing the sheer strength of her 'senpai' first-hand was a unique opportunity, so Ririka decided to make the most of it. Switching her Pokéballs after recalling Fuoco, Ririka sent out her third Pokémon. "Reed, don't blow it up!"

With an Exeggcute being the next Pokémon she and Volante were facing, Mizore was surprised by the diversity of Kenzaki's team. While she knew Kenzaki had a part-time job at the city's Day Care, Mizore couldn't have imagined that such a wide array of Pokémon had been deposited there.

"Use Ancient Power!" Summoning multiple rocks from the ground around him, Reed then directed them at Volante. Unlike his teammates' previous attacks, all of them hit their mark, managing to deal super-effective damage. Still, even that was too little to even bother Volante, so Mizore continued to play 'Air', telling Volante to repeat her Air Slashes.

Even though this was the third time she had seen Mizore use that attack, Ririka still wasn't skilled enough to tell her Pokémon what to do in this scenario, so she could only watch as Reed got knocked out. With the weight of several defeats beginning to weigh on her, Ririka was starting to feel disappointed at herself, but she was still determined to see this battle through.

"Syncope, kick it up a notch!" When she saw that Kenzaki's next Pokémon was a Cleffa, Mizore knew that any chance of the younger girl even managing to defeat Volante had shrunk to zero. If the rest of her team also consisted of unevolved Pokémon, then there was no way she could win.

"Disarming Voice!" Yelling at the top of her lungs (which was admittedly quite a pitiful amount), Syncope's attack barely managed to reach Volante, who quickly dispatched her with a fourth Air Slash. With this battle going nowhere at all for her, the only thing Ririka could do was send out her next Pokémon.

"Dolce, sweeten it up!" A Swirlix being Kenzaki's penultimate Pokémon, Mizore wasn't even sure why she accepted the challenge in the first place. If she had knew earlier that Kenzaki's Pokémon were all on this level, then Mizore would have rejected any offers immediately.

"Use a String Shot!" Firing out a thread from her mouth, Dolce was aiming to ensnare Volante with this non-damaging move. However, Volante caught the fiber in mid-air, and instead used it to pull Dolce to her before knocking her out with another Air Slash. Now on her last legs, Ririka hoped to at least leave a good impression on Mizore before inevitably losing.

"Ritenuto, take it easy!" With a Karrablast being Kenzaki's last Pokémon, Mizore knew that her certain victory would only feel hollow, so she decided to end this drawn-out skirmish quickly. Before Kenzaki could even call out an order, the last few notes of 'Air; had already reached Volante, and she fired out the final Air Slash which ended the battle.

Recalling Ritenuto back into his Pokéball, Ririka was dismayed at her results, but she couldn't let it show in front of her 'senpai'. Putting on the bravest face she could, Ririka went over and stuck out her hand. "Th-thank you very much for the battle, Mizo-senpai! I greatly appreciated it!"

"You're welcome." Shaking Kenzaki's hand, Mizore noted how naturally this simple action came to her, despite coming into physical contact with others being somewhat uncharacteristic for her. If she was able to provoke this sort of reaction from her, then Kenzaki was clearly unlike any other person Mizore had ever known.

"After fighting against you, I hope that I can be as strong as you one day, senpai!" Ririka blurted out, unable to keep her feelings bottled up. "When that day comes, will you battle me again?"

"Of course. I gladly away that moment." Upon hearing those words leave her mouth, Mizore was confused at what she just said. There was no certainty that Kenzaki would ever catch up to her, yet Mizore felt she should honor the declaration the younger girl had made.

As she recalled Volante and prepared to return home, Mizore's phone vibrated in her pocket, causing her to stop in her tracks. Digging it out, she then saw that Nozomi was the person calling her, and pressed the answer button without delay.

"_Hello, Mizore?_" she heard Nozomi's excited voice come out from the other end. "_Haruka just called me and said that you could come with me tomorrow. Is that alright with you?_"

"Gladly. I'll see you at Minant City next morning." A small smile forming on her lips, Mizore looked up at the night sky again. While there was no guarantee whoever reigned above would listen to the pleas of those down below, a small glimmer of hope would always be there for those who were determined enough.

* * *

A/N: Happy Birthday, Mizore! While you made a solid debut in the first half of Season 2, you solidified your place as one of my favourite characters in Hibike after the events of Liz. Due to your introverted nature, you've been through a lot you shouldn't have, but you always manage to overcome those obstacles and deliver a smashing oboe performance at the end of it all.

With this chapter, I've finished writing all the birthday-related chapters, so I will once again return to my hiatus. Since my KyoAni crossover fic will be released sometime in mid-July, the next full chapter of To Be A Solister will return the week after it is published. Stay tuned for when that happens!


	46. Chapter 46: Be Our Guest

"Kumiko-senpai, Reina. Do you see the destruction our fights caused?" Kanade asked. Looking around, Kumiko saw that the once moderately-sized clearing devoid of grass had now expanded outwards from the abuse of repeated Pokémon attacks. "Since this field isn't ours, we'd like to keep it as tidy as possible for other people. Can you two do something about it?"

"Why are you asking us?" Kumiko questioned her kouhai. Though Kanade was clearly a responsible girl who cared about the feelings of other people, Kumiko doubted that this was the reason she had needed their help. "Don't you or your friends have any more Pokémon that could help you with that?"

"Since all of us just finished battling, our Pokémon are quite tired, so please help us with this!" Kanade bowed politely at her senpais. "Do you two have any Grass-type Pokémon that could help out?"

"Ehh… I've got a Maractus and a Cottonee, while Reina's got a Petilil." Kumiko answered. "Would that be helpful? I mean, this is the first time any of them have been tasked with re-greenifying an area, so I'm not sure if they're up to the job."

"Relax, Kumiko-senpai." Kanade reassured, draping both her hands over Kumiko's shoulders while looking up at the taller girl. "I have complete faith in your ability to see things through. That's why I'm the kouhai and you're the senpai, right?"

Sighing, Kumiko sent out Marcato and Mitsuke as she realized that Kanade had got her completely wrapped around her little finger, with Reina sending out Ai as well. Now that her Pokémon were present, Kumiko pondered how they could help before Reina spoke up with a suggestion.

"Kumiko, do you remember that one of the TMs we bought back at Minant City was Grassy Terrain?" Reina reminded her girlfriend. "With that move, they can make grass grow anywhere they want, which perfectly solves the problem we're facing."

"Oh, yeah!" Rummaging in her bag for that TM, Kumiko then fished it out before applying it to Marcato and Mitsuke. While she had initially assumed this process would go smoothly, her Pokédex indicated that she had to make a tough choice if she wanted them to learn this new technique.

"Uhh… it says here that I have to make Maracto and Mitsuke forget a move before they can know Grassy Terrain." Kumiko read off her Pokédex. "Will this have any side effects on them?"

"It won't, but your Pokémon will not be able to use that move unless they learn it again through other methods." Reina answered. "Since their minds would otherwise be overloaded with too much information, most Pokémon can only remember how to use four moves at any given time barring some special techniques, so keep that in mind when planning out what moves they should learn."

"Oh, I didn't know that." Despite how Reina was making this out to be some important aspect of Pokémon training, Kumiko didn't know that this four move limit existed. Though it wasn't much of an issue for her right now, she was still worried about the possible trouble it could pose to her team later on.

Choosing for Marcato to forget Poison Jab and Mitsuke to forget Poison Powder, Kumiko then ordered them to use their newly-learned Grassy Terrain on the barren expanse. Seeing grass spring out of the ground, Kumiko then let her Pokémon be as she turned to look at Reina, who was also happy to have Ai serve as a groundsPokémon.

After a few moments, the barren clearing had completely disappeared, replaced by lush grass covering the ground. Pleased with her senpais' results, Kanade went over and thanked them, grateful that she or her friends didn't have to do the heavy lifting.

"Wow, that was quick." She noted. "So that's what an actual Trainer's Pokémon can accomplish. Guess I need to train more if I want to be on your level, Kumiko-senpai, Reina. There's still a lot I need to learn."

"You've still got time, Kanade. There's no need to rush." Kumiko replied. "Part of being a Trainer is enjoying the journey alongside your Pokémon, so it's best if you go at your own pace. Catching up to others isn't all there is to being a Trainer."

"But isn't that how I'm treating my relationship with Reina?" Kumiko pondered to herself. Though Reina was the person she cherished the most, Kumiko still felt that there was too big of a gap between them for Reina to consider them as equals in power, which she wanted to close and bridge the gap between them.

"I just remembered there's something we need to do now that we're here in Perto City." Reina interrupted Kumiko's thoughts. "Since they've both hatched, we need to ask Ririka about where our Eggs came from, especially with the mysterious connection Demi has with Miss Sezaki's Alolan Ninetales."

"Sezaki? You don't mean Mirai Sezaki the Gym Leader?" The name seemed to ring a bell inside Kanade's head. "Give me a moment. I'll call Ririka-chan over here. She's got some explaining to do."

Going off to fetch Ririka, Kumiko and Reina looked on as Kanade spoke to her friend before the tables turned, with Ririka being the one to drag Kanade over back to Kumiko and Reina when she finished speaking.

"Kumiko-senpai, Reina-senpai, have both your Eggs hatched already?" Ririka asked. "Can I see the Pokémon which hatched from them? I'm always interested in what Pokémon come out of the Eggs I give to people."

"Shouldn't you know already? After all, you did say that our Eggs will hatch into powerful Pokémon when you first gave them to us." Reina thought back to her initial encounter with the Egg enthusiast.

"What I meant was that I wanted to see how the Pokémon that hatched out of your Eggs have been doing." Ririka clarified. "Most people don't return once they've got their Pokémon's Eggs, so I like to check up on the people who come back and see how their Pokémon are doing."

"Oh, that's what you mean. Alright, then we'll show them to you." Kumiko nodded at Reina as they reached for Trip and Demi's Pokéballs. "But please do tell us where they came from after this. There's still some things we aren't sure about."

Sending out Trip and Demi, Ririka crouched down to look at them as she made some remarks about their condition. "Oh, so Reina-senpai's already evolved her Egg's Pokémon into an Alolan Ninetales. That happened faster than I expected."

"That's because I got an Ice Stone from Miss Sezaki when we met her a few days ago, and Kumiko's Deino only hatched a day after that." Reina explained. "Since I needed some extra power to fight a Gym Leader, I decided to evolve my Alolan Vulpix shortly before the Gym battle."

"Well, it normally does take a long time to fully hatch and evolve a Deino." Ririka commented. "Anyways, I'll need to look up the Trainers whose Pokémon your Eggs came from at the Day Care, so would you two please come with me there?"

"Sure. We don't have much to do anyways, so we're happy to find out with you." Kumiko offered. After Ririka and Kanade told their friends where they were heading, Kumiko and Reina bid farewell to Yume and the rest of their kouhais' clique, but the bespectacled girl still had some things to say to them.

"Kumiko-senpai, Reina-senpai, I can't thank you two enough from the bottom of my heart." It seemed that Yume's gratitude towards the couple was unending with how much she was singing their praises. "If it wasn't for you two, then everything I did today wouldn't have happened."

"Like we said before, we really didn't do much." Kumiko didn't feel the need to downplay their achievements, seeing that they had none to their name. "From catching your Corvisquire to winning the tournament, everything you did today was with your own two hands. You should be proud of that."

"Even though today was your first time catching and battling along with your Pokémon, you were a natural at it." Reina added on. "If you keep this up, then I'm sure you'll become an excellent Trainer someday. You've got a lot of potential, so make sure you use it wisely."

"Thank you very much." Yume replied, feeling more confident in herself after Kumiko and Reina's encouraging words. "I'll be sure to train up Kurotori and the other Pokémon which will hatch from my Eggs, and improve my battling skills along the way. Hopefully, I can stand up to you two as a Trainer one day."

"When you reach that point in your journey, we'll see you there." Kumiko was happy that Yume had found a sense of purpose after everything she did, and left with Reina to go to the Day Care.

Arriving at the familiar building alongside Kanade and Ririka, Kumiko went in to see that precisely nothing had changed since she was last here. Going over to a computer terminal, Ririka quickly typed in some words before her eyes shot open at the results her search turned up, causing Kanade, Kumiko, and Reina to crowd around her.

"Is the person whose Pokémon laid those Eggs… none other than the Champion himself?" Kanade was left almost speechless when she saw the words on the screen. "But how?"

"That is Taki-sensei's name there, but why would he leave his Pokémon at the Day Care?" Reina confirmed, puzzled over the fact that this reveal opened up more questions than it answered. "And is that Alolan Ninetales even his? I know he has a Hydreigon, but I don't remember him having an Ice-type on his team."

"Can we see some more details about this?" Kumiko asked, confused at what had been presented to her. "I'm sure there should be some more information, especially since the record-keeping here seems quite comprehensive."

"I'll try to find out some more." After some double-clicking by Ririka, a new screen popped up, though it didn't quite solve the mystery. "It says here he left both the Hydreigon and the Alolan Ninetales here five years ago on the same date, and came back to pick up the Hydreigon about three months before now, though the Alolan Ninetales was retrieved one month ago by someone else."

"Wait. According to this, the Alolan Ninetales laid two Eggs, and the Hydreigon laid one, which would match Miss Sezaki's Alolan Ninetales, Demi, and Trip respectively." Reina told Kumiko. "But there's still something else here. The Alolan Ninetales' Original Trainer is someone named 'Chihiro', not Taki-sensei. Since I've never heard him mention anyone by that name before, who could it be?"

"Chihiro's a woman's name, so I'm guessing that at the very least she could be an acquaintance of Taki's, though that doesn't explain why he has her Pokémon." Kumiko mused. "There's a lot of reasons for that, so I guess we'll need to ask him next time we see each other."

"We also need to tell Miss Sezaki about what we found out here once we reach Eigve City." Reina remembered that the Gym Leader was the person who had inadvertently sent them on this hunt. "It's definitely interesting to see that we're connected in a strange way."

"Speaking of important people, did you have any meetings with Asuka since the last time we met?" Kanade asked Kumiko. "I'm sure you remember the reason I became your kouhai in the first place, senpai."

With that last word sending a shiver down her spine, Kumiko was unable to respond for a moment before coming back to her senses. "Oh yeah, right! Actually, Reina and myself only met her once after that in a hot spring outside of Subdomi City, where she told Reina and two other friends of mine something important."

"Something important? From an Elite Four member? What could that be?" Kanade wondered out loud, as if she was deliberately trying to provoke an answer from Kumiko. "If it isn't a matter of national security, could you be so kind as to tell me about what it could be?"

Looking at Reina, Kumiko was concerned if she should tell her kouhai about HTT, but a reassuring glance from her girlfriend told her that it was a perfectly fine decision. "Basically, Reina and myself are people of interest to a rock band by the name of HTT for some reason, so Asuka told us to be more careful going forward since they've got a lot of influence."

"Wait… you don't mean that HTT?" Kanade seemed skeptical of what Kumiko just told her. If she didn't hold her senpai in such high regard, then she automatically would have assumed Kumiko was flat-out lying to her. "With the guitarist Yui Hirasawa and the bassist Mio Akiyama? That HTT?"

"Yes, and we fought them once during their concert at Ongaku Stadium a few days ago." Reina wanted to dispel the notion of how ridiculous being targeted by a rock band seemed. "Kumiko and I got tickets to that concert for coming in first place at a Double Battle invitational in Edian City the day before we met you two there, so we went to their concert to see just what was going on."

"That was the most hectic battle either Reina or myself have been in so far. You should have seen it!" Kumiko shuddered at just how intense fighting Yui and Azusa was. "We fought their two guitarists, and our Pokémon evolved and Mega Evolved during that battle, while theirs Mega Evolved and Gigantamaxed, but what happened next was even more crazy!"

"Ooh! Tell me more!" Both Ririka and Kanade were now fully invested into the story Kumiko and Reina were weaving. "From what you've described, that battle already seems insane enough, so just what happened that could top it?"

"In the middle of fighting, we were interrupted by a Deoxys appearing from space, then Taki-sen- the Champion appeared out of nowhere and defeated it." Despite how strange the truth sounded, Reina had no choice but to continue telling their story. "After that, HTT invited us to a dinner the next day that we attended, which was also the day we met Miss Sezaki."

"Nothing much happened during that dinner. We just made some small talk, but they did tell us why they were interested in us." Kumiko continued, surprised she could pick up where Reina left off that smoothly. "Apparently, it's because we met a Mythical Pokémon they wanted to capture and use to spread their influence further across the region. I don't really know what that means, but I've got a bad feeling about this."

"Huh, a rock band with an agenda. You don't see much of that these days." Kanade noted. "Getting back to the main point, if Asuka went out of her way to tell you about this, then there's definitely something about this that goes above what we should know. Since you're also not sure what you're dealing with, then I hope you and Reina can stay out of any trouble that comes your way."

"We haven't seen HTT at all since the concert, so I think we have nothing to worry about." Kumiko reassured Kanade. "Anyways, since Reina and myself are planning to enter a Contest Spectacular in Termezzo Town two days from now, we'd better get going. See you soon!"

As they were about to leave the Day Care, Kanade ran over to Kumiko and sneakily whispered in her ear without Reina noticing (Kanade breathed a sigh of relief). "Oh, so you and Reina are dating. Well then, best of luck to you two!"

With Kumiko being deeply unsettled by how casually Kanade revealed she knew about the full extent of their relationship, it took only a moment for Reina to see that her girlfriend had suddenly tensed up when they stepped out of the Day Care building. "Kumiko, what's bothering you? Did you remember something bad again?"

"It's nothing." Kumiko didn't want to scare Reina with what Kanade told her. "Where are we heading next? Termezzo Town's close to Minant City, so should we head back there first?"

"I was thinking something along those lines." Reina replied. "We can Teleport back to Minant City and get some rest since it's almost night now, then we can set out first thing tomorrow morning."

"Sounds good to me." Kumiko agreed with Reina's plan. "But where are we staying for the night? I mean, going back to my sister's would be really awkward, and we can't stay at the hotel room we were in last night."

"We could always stay at one of the Pokémon Centers in Minant City." Reina suggested, causing Kumiko to internally facepalm at how she missed such an obvious solution. "That way, we don't have to deal with any of the problems you mentioned."

Sending out Eurydice, Reina told her to Teleport them to Minant City, and they were whisked away a moment later, leaving no trace of themselves back in Perto City. Reappearing near Mamiko's salon in Minant City, the couple then followed the directions on Reina's phone and headed to the nearest Pokémon Center.

After eating dinner, Kumiko and Reina went through their nightly routines before cuddling next to each other on their shared bed, stealing a kiss or ruffling the other's hair on their second night together as a couple.

When they both finally got tired, the lovers fell asleep wrapped in each others' arms, not wanting to let go of their special ones so soon after they confessed their feelings to one another. Despite the intense battle-filled day, Kumiko and Reina were rewarded an uneventful night for their hard work, giving them the chance to appreciate each others' warmth.

* * *

"Wait. I didn't remember you mentioning a gigantic chunk of rock between us and Termezzo Town."

Seeing a mountain-sized formation of flat stone poke out in front of them from the horizon, Kumiko was confounded as to where they currently were. Looking at her phone, Reina decided to provide a useful answer from what she found.

"The area in front of us is called the Plateau of Rest, which is also the largest plateau here in Octiva." Reina explained. "Because of how hard it is to get up to the top for most people and Pokémon, only the strongest Pokémon are found there. However, strong Trainers can also occasionally be spotted training and-"

Reina's expository moment was cut short when the couple heard a loud 'BOOM!' reverberate across the area. Struggling to maintain their balance against the unyielding force, the noise's sheer power nearly caused them to forget covering their ears with their hands.

When the soundwave subsided, Kumiko and Reina fully stood up again to see that there was currently a landslide making its way down the plateau's nearly vertical slopes. Standing in awe at the magnificent sight of a sea of rocks rapidly falling down, the couple then quickly realized that they were directly in the landslide's pathway. Frantically reaching for their Pokéballs, they wondered if they would lose their lives here for one ominous second.

However, Kumiko heard a whooshing sound above them as she and Reina were picked up and lifted away from the danger zone by two unidentified flying objects, narrowly missing being crushed by large amounts of boulders.

Looking up to see who had rescued them, Kumiko saw that she was currently seated on an airborne Tropius, while Reina was aloft on a soaring Skarmory, both Pokémon having one other person riding on them.

"Yoo-hoo, Oumae-chan! Did you miss me?" Asuka asked, her signature red-framed eyeglasses reflecting sunlight into Kumiko's eyes, stunning her for a moment. "Oh, are you intimidated by my presence? Well, that's to be expected!"

"Gah! Asuka-senpai, where did you come from?" Kumiko was shocked not only by Asuka's sudden appearance out of nowhere, but at how calm she seemed to be at scooping her up from the ground. "And why are you here?"

"Well, it's because Haruka, Asuka and myself are here to test some people to see if they can become our aides." Kaori answered in Asuka's stead, revealing herself as the person who rescued Reina. "We're looking for some new assistants, so we decided to use the nearby plateau as our testing grounds."

"Kaori-chan and I were flying around the area to make sure that no one was around before that test began, so it's a miracle we managed to rescue you two in the nick of time." Asuka continued. "Since we're still in the middle of conducting our trials, we're going to drop you off at Minant City before we head back to the plateau."

"On second thought, can we go along with you to the top of the plateau?" Reina asked, curious about what was up there. "Since very few people can reach it even with the help of their Pokémon, it would be interesting to see what it looks like."

"Of course!" Asuka energetically responded. "In case you find that sort of stuf intriguing, you can also catch a glimpse of the trials we're putting our recruits through. All of us Elite Four members are currently camped out there along with our current aides, so you could say it's a gathering of the strongest!"

With a single command from their Trainers, Asuka's Tropius and Kaori's Skarmory changed direction in midair, doing a complete 180-degree turn as they returned to the plateau's peak. Looking at the boulder-covered ground beneath them, Kumiko and Reina were thankful that they didn't get caught in that mess.

Approaching their destination, the sheer height of the plateau became apparent to Kumiko and Reina when neither Asuka nor Kaori's Pokémon needed to descend much to touch down on the flat ground.

Alighting from Asuka's Tropius when they landed, Kumiko saw that there were several tents of varying sizes set up nearby, most likely housing the people Asuka mentioned were here. A short walk later, the small group had reached one of the plateau's edges, where several people were standing with clipboards.

Recognizing some of the people there including the other two Elite Four members, Kumiko was surprised when she saw Mizore crouching down and looking over the cliff's side intently. While the thought of staring into that seemingly bottomless expanse creeped the hell out of Kumiko, there was almost no reaction on Mizore's face, the blue-haired girl remaining calm as she gazed into the abyss.

"What's Mizore Yoroizuka doing here?" Kumiko asked Asuka, confused about how the distant girl had ended up here with the Elite Four. "I know that she fought Ogasawara once, but what does that have to do with this test?"

"We tried to recruit her to be one of our aides, but she turned down every last request from us." Asuka explained. "However, she just so happens to be friends with another one of our examinees, so we let her come here to observe the tests."

"Hi there, Kumiko." Aoi greeted her childhood friend, walking over from her position at the plateau's edge. "What brings you here? And for the matter, how did you get up? Since it's very hard to come here on your own, did you receive any help on the way?"

"Asuka-senpai and Kaori saved Reina and myself from a landslide coming down the plateau while we were passing by, and brought us here to see these tests being conducted." Kumiko answered, briefly throwing Aoi into a state of panic. "If it wasn't for them, I think we'd be dead by now."

"Thank Arceus we decided to go on those patrols around this area." Aoi breathed a sigh of relief at that display of foresight. "Since we expected the participants' Pokémon to attack the cliff side during this test, it was almost inevitable that a landslide would occur. Though I do wish that we'd put up a 'no trespassing' barrier around the area so no one would come here…"

"Speaking of the test, what's it about?" Kumiko realized that despite knowing the cause and seeing the effects of the landslide, she had next to no context about why something this dangerous needed to be conducted. "And what does the cliff have to do with it?"

"A-ha, Oumae-chan. Looks like you've finally got to the main point at last!" Asuka was pleasantly elated Kumiko had reached the conclusion she needed to process this set of circumstances. "You see, this test involves our lovely participants scaling the side of this plateau all the way from the bottom. Since they're permitted to use their Pokémon to make their climb easier, you can guess what happens when they do so."

Another loud "BOOM!" coming from the cliff's side sent a shockwave across the area, nearly knocking Kumiko and Reina off their feet. However, everyone else present seemed unaffected by the powerful burst, maintaining their balance with little effort as if they had gone through this many times before.

"Just who could that be?" Kumiko wondered after she recovered her footing, then found out she spoke out loud again as Asuka looked at her, a mysterious smile carved on her face. "And how long have they been at this?"

"You'll see soon enough." Going back over to the cliff's side, Asuka left Kumiko hanging with such an ambiguous reply. Fighting her natural instinct to be afraid of heights, Kumiko went over along with her only to discover that Reina had been standing there all along, casting her gaze downwards.

"How did your conversation with Miss Tanaka go?" Reina flatly asked, noticing Kumiko's presence without taking her eyes away from the action happening below. "Did you learn anything more about this from her?"

"Well, she told me that the participants are climbing up this cliff from the bottom with the help of their Pokémon." Kumiko reiterated what Asuka told her. "But she hasn't told me who the people they're testing are, though I think I have a vague idea about their identities."

Waiting together with Reina for a while, Kumiko thought that where they were standing right now would be a good vantage point for sightseeing if it wasn't for the fact that there was nothing to see this high up. As Kumiko wondered how much time had passed since the test began, she then saw a single arm drape across the plateau's flat surface as the person it belonged to hauled themselves up.

"Aah, finally!" Nozomi exclaimed as she pulled her whole body onto the ground, feeling the perfectly smooth floor beneath her as Mizore went over to check up on her. "I've never been happier to be on solid land again!"

"Nozomi, I'm glad to see you again. Are you all right?" Mizore immediately asked. "Was the climb challenging? Did you get hurt along the way? I've got some ice-cold water and energy drinks for you if you need them."

"Don't worry, Mizore." Nozomi reassured her friend. "I'm perfectly fine, but thanks for the offer anyways. Man, I would've wiped out several times down there if it wasn't for my Pokémon by my side. That sure was a tough climb."

Picking herself up and going over to a nearby shelter, Nozomi did some stretched to relieve the tension in her muscles before sitting down on what looked like a lawn chair, getting a drink from a nearby minifridge. With condensation starting to form on the beverages she was currently carrying, Mizore simply put them back in the fridge and sat next to Nozomi, observing her leisurely sipping away on her own.

"Huh, so Nozomi's one of the people you're testing." Kumiko noted, the surprise slightly dulled by the fact that Mizore was present. "I met her while she was training under the Gym Leader in Onic City, so is that the reason why you've recruited her?"

"It was Onic City's Gym Leader who recommended Nozomi for her battling prowess, but she's going to be under my wing for a more personal reason." Haruka explained as she came over. "Nozomi and I met a few months ago when I was testing the Onic City Gym Leader. After hitting it off, we discussed starting up a Service Club to help out other Trainers, which we're going to do if she passes these tests."

"Oh, Haruka-senpai! Yahallo!" Nozomi waved at Haruka upon noticing her. "Wait, is that you, Kumiko? Long time no see! I haven't seen you for a while, so how have you been? I hope your journey's going smoothly so far."

"Reina and myself are heading to Termezzo Town to participate in a Contest Spectacular, but we stopped here along the way when Asuka rescued us from a landslide caused by someone." Kumiko paused for a moment. "…Was it you who did it?"

"I don't think so." Nozomi answered. "None of my Pokémon have a move that can create shockwaves like that, though I'm pretty sure I know who did it. She should be coming up any time now."

Wondering who Nozomi was referring to, Kumiko then heard a pair of familiar voices bickering, and quickly narrowed down her guesses to just two people, both of which she was shocked to see when they emerged at last.

"Now who's fault is it that two gigantic landslides happened?" Natsuki questioned, still being able to talk coherently despite just having finished climbing up a cliff. "If you don't make your Chatot shut up with his Boombursts, I will."

"Who's the one that kept teasing Klezmer all the way up here?" Yuuko retorted, also talking normally without being out of breath. "Keep in mind that we almost died several times back there thanks to your voice, so I'd suggest you shut up instead."

"Haha, humans go 'brrrr'." Klezmer squawked out, Yuuko's Chatot repeating old memes his Trainer showed him a while ago. "It's not much, but it's honest work. What an outstanding move!"

"See what I mean? Ever since that night where we browsed memes together, he's never been the same." Natsuki was getting more and more irritated by the moment, standing up with Yuuko at the same time after they finished dragging their bodies onto solid ground. "Hey, if it isn't Kumiko over there. What's up?"

"Natsuki?!" As if the day couldn't get any weirder, Kumiko was now shocked by the fact that her friend was apparently one of the people being tested. "Why are you even here? Did you make a deal with the devil or something?"

"Close, but not quite." Natsuki shrugged. "A few days ago, Asuka appeared out of nowhere and told me I had been recommended to be her aide. Of course, she never told me who recommended me, but I've got a good feeling it was most likely herself."

"Initially, Nakagawa-chan resisted any and all attempts from me to participate in these tests." Asuka continued, coming over to see what the commotion was about. "She had, and I quote: 'enough of me'. However, when I revealed that Kaori-chan had scouted Yoshikawa-chan to be her aide, Nakagawa-chan immediately leapt at the opportunity, saying that she 'didn't want to get left behind'. Her words, not mine."

"Please don't take what I said out of context." Natsuki shot back. "For reference, Asuka was stalking me everywhere I went for several days on end, including the bathroom AND sleeping in the same bed as me. When she told me that Yuuko had signed up as well, I was so sick and tired of her following me that I just gave in."

"Why did you invite Natsuki to be your aide?" Kumiko found that term slightly odd, but that wasn't what she was curious about. "I've known her for quite a while already, and she doesn't seem like the type of person who should be someone else's assistant. I mean, she's enough of a disaster already."

"Hey! Quit it!" Natsuki shouted at Kumiko, who jokingly ducked. "Well, Asuka said that it was because I was a Trainer with 'high potential', so she wanted to observe me and help develop it further. I'm not sure if what she said had any truth to it, but I couldn't refuse at that point."

"Nakagawa-chan, you do realize I can hear you, right?" Asuka leaned closer into Natsuki's face, spooking the shorter girl. "Anyways, I wanted Nakagawa-chan to join us because I felt that she was wasting her talent by bumming around the region with her friends, and wanted her to do something more productive instead."

"You sound like my mom when you say that." Natsuki was getting tired of hearing what Asuka had to say about her. "It's true that I'm currently an aimless teenager travelling with my friends, but can't you just leave me alone? You're not the one in control of my life! I am!"

"Nuh-uh, Nakagawa-chan!" Asuka wagged her finger. "I hate to see people who can do so much more just lollygag around. Why don't you apply yourself like your friend Yoshikawa-chan? When Kaori-chan asked her if she wanted to be her assistant, Yoshikawa-chan practically jumped at the call! You should have seen her face!"

"I'm not like Yuuko. And besides, who said that we're friends? She's my-" Whatever Natsuki wanted to say next was cut off by her suddenly collapsing on the ground, most likely due to her pent-up exhaustion from the climb. Crouching down to check on her friend, Kumiko noticed that Yuuko had fainted as well.

"And just when we were getting to the good bit." Asuka observed. "Don't worry about those two. Kaori can take care of them since she's experienced in nursing. Once they wake up, it's time for our final test: the Ultimate Musou!"

* * *

A/N: Welcome back! It's been over a month and a half since I've published the last full chapter of this fic, so I hope that the shorts and three birthday chapters I wrote during that hiatus were enough to tide you over. Now that I'm finished with my other project, I'm now free to continue posting full weekly chapters of To Be A Solister from now on. With most of our major players now in one place, stay tuned to see what the future brings for our favourite band gays!


	47. Chapter 47: Pomp and Circumstance

"Musou? What does that mean?" Kumiko asked, not sure what Asuka was referring to. "Is that the name of what they have to do during the test or the test's name itself? I've got completely no idea what it could be."

"That's exactly the reason why I brought you here, Oumae-chan." Asuka smiled proudly while puffing out her chest, causing Kumiko to be jealous of her superior assets. "The world's a big place, so I want you to see more of it. You don't want to end up like Nakagawa-chan pre-me, don't you?"

"Hey! I'm not a bad example for Kumiko!" Natsuki yelled back, having somehow recovered from passing out earlier. "Who says that the entire world has to follow your own expectations, huh?"

"Me, obviously." Asuka deflected Natsuki's rhetorical question. "And you'd better get some rest now, Nakagawa-chan. There's still one more test ahead of you. Don't want your chronic narcolepsy to get a hold again, right?"

"Yeah, but you'd better apologize for-" As quickly as she woke up, Natsuki flopped back down on the camping cot Kaori had placed her on, her body unable to handle the strain of being active for so long.

On an adjacent camping cot, Yuuko squirmed a little.

"Anyways, let me explain what the Ultimate Musou is." Asuka took one last look at Natsuki. "The word 'musou' literally means unmatched, which is what all powerful Trainers strive to be. Though we're strong, the Elite Four can't be everywhere at once, so this test examines whether or not our potential recruits are strong enough to solve problems in our stead."

"You still haven't told me what kind of test they're going to take." Kumiko was unfazed by Asuka's verbal prose. "Judging by where we are now, it's quite obvious that it wouldn't be a written test."

"Astute observation, Oumae-chan." Kumiko wasn't sure if Asuka hadn't picked up on the deadpan in her voice or just toying with her again. "For this final assessment, our lovely participants have to defeat 100 wild Pokémon each in less than one hour with their own. This sort of challenge would normally be considered daunting for any Trainer, but think about where we currently are."

Looking around the plateau, Kumiko could see just what Pokémon inhabited this desolate patch of land. While a Garchomp wrestled with a Conkeldurr, a Staraptor being chased by a Talonflame soared above them, and a nestling Sandaconda was repelling a Golem from its den.

"How are they supposed to defeat that many Pokémon?" Kumiko was starting to think the final test was completely ridiculous, even by Asuka's standards. "Is that even possible? Especially since the people you're testing just finished climbing up a cliff?"

"You never know what you may find yourself in when you're working for the League, so this also serves as a test of being prepared." Asuka justified this decision. "No matter how strong someone is, they're going to be at a massive disadvantage if they're caught off guard. For them to serve by our side, our aides need to anticipate a situation and respond in our stead in case we're unavailable."

"But that doesn't answer my question." With how Asuka seemed to deflect everything she asked, Kumiko was getting more confused the longer she ranted on. "Do the people you're testing have a chance of passing? These requirements seem tough."

"That's for the test itself to decide." Asuka turned, her long black hair swishing as she faced away. "Well then, there's still 50 minutes before the final test starts. Meet me back here in 45 minutes so I can give you an aerial view of everything on my Tropius. Adieu!"

Going off somewhere on her own, Kumiko was left alone again until Reina came back to her, having returned from observing Kaori talk with a girl whose heart-shaped hairpins adorned her brown hair. Since Kumiko wasn't really sure what Reina was doing there, she decided to ask her girlfriend what they had been talking about.

"Did you learn anything after listening to them for so long?" While it wasn't Kumiko's intention to phrase the question in such a blunt way, she subconsciously knew that Reina preferred it if their non-romantic conversations were direct and to the point. After all, her special one didn't like to waste time things which wouldn't get her closer to her goals.

"I heard some things, but judging by how long you two were talking, my suspicions are that Miss Tanaka already told you about most of them." Reina replied. "Nakaseko and her aide were talking about the final test, along with who they thought would finish the quickest. Speaking of her aide, her name's Tomoe Kabe, and she's apparently friends with Yuuko as well."

"Oh, did you know that Yuuko's one of the people being tested?" Kumiko told Reina upon her mention of Yuuko. "And for some reason, Natsuki's also in the running, but I think neither her nor Asuka will tell me the story of how she got dragged here."

"Wait, what? I didn't see her." This entire situation felt extremely strange to Reina. Not only had her friend somehow been selected for such a prestigious position, but Nakagawa had also got chosen. "Since we know they're friends, could this be some sort of bizarre coincidence?"

"With how Asuka operates, I have no clue anymore." Kumiko concluded, not wanting to delve further into this hole. "Since she said she'll pick me up to watch the test 45 minutes from now, why don't we spend some time together? We really haven't had much alone time as a couple."

"We're on a barren plateau. There's not much we can do here." Reina pointed out the obvious. "Well, unless if it's doing what you just suggested. I'm always open for having more time with you."

"Me too." Holding on to her girlfriend's hand, Kumiko walked along with her as their feelings guided them to the plateau's edge. Sitting down in unison, Kumiko and Reina let their legs dangle down. Even though doing this on their own would be extremely frightening for both of them, the other's presence reassured the couple that everything would be alright no matter what happened.

Staring at the endless expanse of clouds, Kumiko's mind cleared itself of any thoughts which she found distracting as she looked at the serene skyscape, but there was one drabble she couldn't quite get rid of. Voicing it out to Reina, Kumiko hoped her girlfriend would help her sort it out together.

"Reina, what if I was separated from you for some reason? What would you do?" Kumiko asked, her voice getting quiet at this disturbing possibility. While they had only been a couple for two days and friends before that for a slightly longer period of time, this scary train of thought had been on Kumiko's mind ever since she was first bedazzled by Reina that night in Dacap Town.

"What do you mean?" Not wanting to give a reply which wouldn't answer her girlfriend's question, Reina wanted some clarification about what Kumiko meant by that. "Separated as in 'I can't reunite with you' separated, or 'gone forever' separated?"

"Well, both." Kumiko breathed out her brief words. "Yeah, that should be about right. What if you couldn't get me back, and I was gone forever? Aggh, I can't think about this any longer…

"I can only give one answer to your question." Reina cut through Kumiko's hesitation and locked eyes with her girlfriend, her lustrous purple orbs shining with a resolute glint. "If you were taken away from me, I would get you back no matter what, even if I have to go through the depths of Hell itself."

"Haha… classic Reina. You're always saying stuff like that." Kumiko teased her girlfriend, laughing at her dramatic response. "But thanks for making me feel safe. I really appreciate everything you do for me."

"Anytime." Looking at her girlfriend's cute face, Reina was unable to resist the glowing smile etched on it any longer. Acting on her impulses, she playfully kissed Kumiko on the cheek, and Kumiko reciprocated the favour in kind. Time passed as the couple exchanged both words and affection with each other, and they lost themselves in their two-person paradise until a rather loud 'AHEM' from behind caused them to jolt up in panic.

"Are you two ladies done with your public displays of PDA yet?" Asuka peered down at them from where she was standing. "I've got one Oumae-chan to go waiting for me, and I want her pronto!"

"Fine. You can have her just this once." Reina shot Asuka a glare which would have paralyzed any other person, but Asuka simply shrugged it off. "I expect to have her back once you're done with what you're doing."

"I'd normally agree with that, but you've got something on your plate as well." Grabbing Kumiko by the wrist and making her stand up, Asuka started to drag her kouhai along for the ride. "Kaori-chan's invited you to ride along with her as she soars through the sky with her Skarmory, reviewing how Yoshikawa-chan's doing along the way."

"There's no reason for me to do that on your whims." Reina rebutted. "If you're asking me to join Nakaseko solely for your own amusement, then I politely refuse. Please give me more valid justification if you're trying to manipulate me."

"Thankfully, I've got what you asked for." Asuka countered. "It wasn't me who put forward this request, but actually Kaori-chan herself. She said it would be a great opportunity for you to experience first-hand the strength needed to stand by the Elite Four and see Yoshikawa-chan give it her all. Does that sound fair to you?"

"When you put it that way, I'll accept Nakaseko's offer." Reina stood up, then headed over to where Kaori was standing. Seeing her kouhai's girlfriend depart, Asuka then wrapped her arm around Kumiko's neck, startling her with a 'GWAH!'

"Now now, Oumae-chan. You've already had enough lovey-dovey time with your girlfriend, haven't you?" Asuka teased, enjoying Kumiko's awkward reactions. "Then let's go! My Tropius awaits!"

As Asuka forcibly guided Kumiko to where her Tropius was waiting, Kumiko saw there were two other people sitting on it: a tall young man with short brown hair wearing glasses and a young woman with shoulder-length brown hair tied in two buns near the nape of her neck.

"Kumiko, meet Takuya Gotou and Riko Nagase." Asuka introduced the couple currently sitting on her Tropius. "They're my aides, and they'll be joining us to see how Nakagawa-chan fares in the final part of her tests."

"Nice to meet you, Gotou-senpai, Riko senpai." Kumiko politely addressed them as she shook their hands, then got onto Asuka's Tropius following Asuka herself. With a flap of its leafy wings, Asuka's Tropius ascended vertically, carrying its four riders up as they looked down at the desolate landscape below.

Stopping shortly after it had lifted off, the altitude at which Asuka's Tropius had halted gave Kumiko a good view of the ground beneath her, allowing a good vantage point to observe Natsuki, Yuuko, and Nozomi. Carrying Kaori and Reina on its back, Kaori's Skarmory appeared right next to Asuka's Tropius, along with someone who Kumiko guessed was Tomoe Kabe riding a floating Magnezone.

Handing Kumiko a pair of binoculars, Asuka adjusted her glasses, which Kumiko could see had several displays on them. "Oumae-chan, use these binoculars to get a better look if you're wondering what's happening down there. As for me, I'll use my magnifying glasses to lovingly observe Nakagawa-chan from a distance."

Taking the binoculars from Asuka, Kumiko focused her attention on where Natsuki was, her friend having all of her Pokémon out already. Shifting her field of view to Yuuko and Nozomi next, both of them also had their entire teams out already.

Wondering who was going to give the starting signal, Kumiko then saw Aoi on the ground along with Mizore, who was intently watching Nozomi. Holding a pistol in her hand, Kumiko was slightly afraid that Aoi would commit an unspeakable crime with it before she fired a shot into the air, revealing it to be a starting gun loaded with blanks.

Upon hearing the gunshot ring through the stale air, Natsuki, Yuuko, and Nozomi leapt into action, each of them splitting off to find wild Pokémon they could fight. With Asuka's Tropius hot on Natsuki's tail, Kumiko saw that Kaori's Skarmory was following Yuuko along with Kabe's Magnezone, while Haruka was riding on a Mantine in Nozomi's direction.

As Natsuki continued to head in one direction with her Pokémon, Kumiko saw that there was a herd of wild Donphan in front of them, and it seemed her friend had noticed that as well. Quickly stopping, Natsuki then ordered her Mismagius to Hypnotize the front ranks of the herd.

Wondering where her friend got a Mismagius, Kumiko then remembered Natsuki had a Misdreavus named Nocturne, who she presumed had evolved since Kumiko last saw her. With her Musharna Zenzense and Meowstic Soul firing out twin Psychic blasts, Natsuki knocked out the remaining frontrunners of the herd who had dodged the initial Hypnosis, leaving only the retreating stragglers.

However, the remaining Donphan were intercepted by a hole appearing in front of them, revealing the remainder of Natsuki's Pokémon. With a Shadow Claw from her Sableye Samson, her Komala Berceuse using a Wood Hammer, and a Mega Punch courtesy of her Slaking Largo, the last of the Donphan collapsed to the ground.

"Alright, that's 15 Pokémon down in 10 minutes." Asuka recorded Natsuki's knockout count. "Not bad if I do say so myself, but can she keep this up for the rest of the test?"

Nearby, Reina was looking at Yuuko's progress from above while riding on Nakaseko's Skarmory. Her ribboned friend had already defeated 5 Aggron, and was currently dealing with a band of Crustle.

With an Iron Head, Yuuko's Mawile Delilah took one down, while her Chatot Klezmer used Air Slash to deal with several other Crustle from above. Using a Pixelated Hyper Voice, her Sylveon Tenerezza blasted another horde away, and a Surf from her Furfrou Coloratura wiped out any stragglers that were left.

Now left with only two Crustle to deal with, Yuuko let her Golduck Rubato and Meowstic Heart finish them off. A Water Pulse from Rubato and Heart's Shadow ball made sure all Crustle in the area had been defeated.

"Huh. That went more smoothly than I expected. I had no idea Yuuko was actually this good." Reina noted to herself. Though it wasn't her intention, Kaori had overheard Reina's musings and decided to reply.

"Considering she's your friend, I'm surprised you didn't know Miss Yoshikawa was this skilled." Kaori addressed Reina. "There's a reason Tomoe recommended her in the first place. Did you get Yuuko's knockout count down, Tomoe?"

"Yes, Miss Nakaseko." Tomoe replied. "Yuuko defeated 20 Crustle just now, which brings her total knockout count to 25 Pokémon in 15 minutes. At the rate she's defeating wild Pokémon, she's definitely going to reach her target in time."

"That's good to know." Kaori smiled at the results her potential recruit was getting. "However, do keep in mind that the tide of battle can shift anytime, so there's a chance Yuuko may run into danger sometime later."

As Nozomi got farther away from her over time, Mizore couldn't see where she was if she stayed at her current position. Sending out Pyotr, Mizore then ordered the Swanna to lift her up as she flew over to where Haruka was monitoring Nozomi.

Currently, Nozomi was fighting a pack of Mightyena which surrounded her and her Pokémon, though she easily had the upper hand in this situation. With a Solar Beam from her Cherrim Sakura and her Altaria Elo firing out a Dragon Pulse, Nozomi quickly cleared an exit path, but there were still some obstacles left in her way until she could finally walk free.

A Low Kick from her Zoroark Cambiare and her Ambipom Giocoso using dual Brick Breaks thinned out the horde even further, with her Togedemaru Rondo crashing into a few more Mightyena and her Sliggoo Allegrezza dishing out Muddy Water ending Nozomi's current challenges.

"Hmm, let's see." Mizore overheard Haruka. "That should be around 10 Mightyena knocked out, which brings Nozomi's total to 20 Pokémon defeated in 20 minutes. Will she make it in time?"

Even though Haruka was concerned with whether or not Nozomi could pass this final test, it was Mizore who was feeling a current of despair coursing through her entire body. The mere thought of Nozomi failing was enough to send Mizore into a state of panicked frenzy, so she hoped that her special one would pull through and succeed against all odds.

With her Pokémon defeating a pack of Rhydon and Rhyhorn, Kumiko saw that Natsuki was currently on track based on Asuka's observations, with Gotou and Riko taking notes on her progress throughout. As she wiped off a bead of sweat from her head, Natsuki heard a rumbling noise from beneath her feet as a swarm of angry Durant burst out of the ground.

"UGAAAHHH! Where from hell did they emerge from?" Kumiko explained, her fear of Bug-type Pokémon rearing its ugly head again, with the horde enveloping Natsuki and her Pokémon on all sides. "Is Natsuki going to come out of this alive?"

"Now this is getting interesting!" Asuka adjusted her glasses, completely ignoring Kumiko's question. Gotou and Riko looked on with a mixture of confusion and worry on their faces. "If Nakagawa-chan managed to make it through this crucible, then she's going to be a fine Trainer who I'd be proud to have standing by my side!"

"If?" Kumiko questioned. Not only had Asuka completely disregarded what she just said, but threw Natsuki's safety by the side as well. "Shouldn't you care about whether or not she's going to survive before worrying about what person she's going to become? What sort of person are you?"

"I have complete confidence in Nakagawa-chan's ability to not die right now, Oumae-chan." Asuka responded. "After all, there's a reason I chose her as a possible candidate to be my aide. Please have some faith in your friend."

"Fair point." Taking note of Asuka's comments, Kumiko decided to wait and see what would happen to Natsuki as she was completely rushed over by Durant. If what Asuka said was true, then there was still some hope left.

With nothing unusual happening for some time, Kumiko was about to chew off Asuka and go rescue Natsuki herself when she heard some thumping sounds coming from the horde's center.

Zooming in with her binoculars, Kumiko saw some of the Durant covering Natsuki getting thrown off little by little, with a number of them having the signature blue aura of Psychic around them. As the swarm was being reduced, a light blue barrier around Natsuki and her Pokémon was slowly uncovered, revealing to everyone watching how she managed to avoid being crushed.

"That's my Nakagawa-chan!" Asuka exclaimed, impressed that her 'kouhai' had thought of something so ingenious rather quickly. "If she defeats all the Durant here, then it should bring her total knockout count up to 80 Pokémon. That's going to be an impressive showing at this stage of the test!"

With Natsuki's position becoming clearer, Kumiko could get a better view of what her friend was doing to fend off the horde. Rather than inefficiently pick off each Durant one by one, Natsuki was choosing to deal with them like the swarm they were, using wide-range attacks against the masses of Pokémon pressed against her.

Under the barrier's protection, which was provided by Zenzense and Soul's combined Psychic powers, the rest of Natsuki's Pokémon were rotating between recovering and fighting off the Durant horde using multi-target moves. Though this strategy wasn't the quickest nor the most effective, it still got the job done.

In a way, this approach reminded Kumiko of Natsuki herself. While her friend was seemingly a lazy slacker, she wasn't the sort of person to accept mediocrity as a result, and she put in effort to rectify the difference between her and others with more skill.

This methodical way of dealing with the Durant paid off for Natsuki, and she managed to clear out the entire swarm of Durant in under 15 minutes. However, knocking all of them back did not equate to knocking all of them out, and Natsuki was forced to flee from the survivors of her counterattack.

"Hmm… that should bring Nakagawa-chan's total up to 70 Pokémon defeated in 35 minutes." Asuka mused, updating the checklist in her hand. "Not bad, but not the result I expected from her either… Oh well, at least she's going to pass at the rate she's going! Fight on, Nakagawa-chan!"

As Reina watched on from a distance, Yuuko was currently fending off a flock of Vibrava led by several Flygon, though it would be more accurate to say that the Vibrava and Flygon were fending her off instead based on who was winning the battle.

Despite their relentless attacks, any move either the Vibrava or Flygon made didn't seem to have much of an effect on Yuuko's team, with the returning fire coming from her Pokémon whittling down their numbers even more. The way her Pokémon attacked may have seemed arbitrary to a casual onlooker, but Reina knew the methods Yuuko used were highly organized and efficient.

By splitting up her Pokémon into three teams of two and having one pair attack while the other two teams rested, then rapidly swapping them, Yuuko made sure there was an unending wall of offense heading her opponents' way upon her command. However, this had the drawback of making her Pokémon a bit too reliant on her orders at times.

Even with this glaring and easily exploitable flaw, Yuuko still managed to leave no hole in her defense, bombarding the Vibrava and Flygon facing her with barrage after barrage of powerful and super-effective moves, leaving them unable to recover. With this surprisingly disciplined approach, clearing out the assembled Pokémon was an easy task for Yuuko to accomplish.

Eventually, the last of the Vibrava and Flygon fell, only leaving Yuuko and her Pokémon standing in front of them. Not wanting to dwell on her triumph for too long in this timed test, Yuuko quickly moved on in search of other Pokémon to fight.

"That's Yuuko-chan for you." Tomoe confided to Kaori as her Magnezone hovered near Kaori's Skarmory, letting Reina overhear their conversation. "Though she doesn't seem like it, she's actually quite an efficient worker, but I worry about her with how she takes on too much responsibility sometimes…"

"I do remember you mentioning that in your recommendation, Tomoe." Kaori replied. "That's why I'm thinking of splitting up tasks between Yuuko and you when she officially becomes my aide. The way I've planned it out, she's going to be handling most of the field work, while you're going to be on the administrative side of things."

"That's a good arrangement. Since we're both playing by our strengths, that'll definitely make life easier for you." Tomoe was pleased with Kaori's plan, but she still had some lingering doubt. "But I hope that you won't leave all your work to us like Miss Asuka does to her aides. It's surely a stressful affair for them, even when they haven't complained much about it."

"Don't worry, I'm not like Asuka…" Kaori instantly regretted saying that out loud upon realizing how much she would give to have even a sliver of Asuka's talent. "On second thought, never mind. Tomoe, how many Pokémon has Yuuko knocked out so far?"

"Let me see… by my latest count, Yuuko's defeated 80 Pokémon in 45 minutes." Tomoe answered instantly. "As long as she manages to run into one more horde before the time limit, she's got this in the bag."

Looking ahead, Reina spotted a herd of Camerupt in the direction Yuuko was going. Smiling to herself, what Reina saw confirmed Tomoe's points and subsequently Yuuko's place as one of Kaori's aides.

While both her friends were on track to pass this test, the same could not be said for Nozomi. Despite defeating Pokémon at roughly the same pace as Natsuki and Yuuko, Nozomi just wasn't finding enough of them to fight for some reason. With only 10 minutes remaining, Nozomi had only defeated 60 Pokémon so far. Barring a miracle, there was no way she could find another forty in the time she had left.

This made Mizore extremely worried.

Frantically looking around for any Pokémon around Nozomi's area, Mizore regretted not bringing a pair of binoculars or another magnifying tool with her before coming to observe Nozomi during this test. Unable to support her special one at all during this pivotal moment, Mizore genuinely felt alone as she soared through the sky.

As the clock ticked down, Mizore couldn't bear to go any further even as Haruka pressed on, until she heard a rumbling sound coming from beneath the ground. Ordering Pyotr to descend a little so she could see more of the action, Mizore hoped that this was the lucky break Nozomi needed.

Stopping along with her Pokémon, Nozomi was frozen in place as a literal wave of Shuckle emerged from the ground below her. With how tough Shuckle were, Mizore was now at the height of her Nozomi-related despair. There really was no hope now for Nozomi passing her test.

However, Mizore saw the ground quake again as more Pokémon burst out, revealing themselves to be a horde of Onix all emerging from the same spot. Initially struck with panic upon seeing Nozomi's challenges compounding in an instant, Mizore then realized Nozomi only needed to defeat all the comparatively weaker Onix and some of the Shuckle to pass.

Breathing a sigh of relief, Mizore then saw that Nozomi had also came to the same conclusion as she did, ordering all her Pokémon to focus on the Onix rather than the Shuckle. In a few short moments, nearly all of them had been defeated, with Nozomi moving on to picking off some of the Shuckle.

"That was close …" Mizore heard Haruka mention from a distance. "Now she's up to 95 Pokémon defeated with 5 minutes left. Even if she only defeats one Shuckle per minute, she'll definitely pass. And to think she almost failed despite such a wonderful performance across the board."

Looking at Nozomi from a distance, Mizore saw that she was now focusing her attention on defeating Shuckle one-by-one with all her Pokémon. While this was far from being an efficient or effective approach, it was the only option Nozomi had in her increasingly tight timeframe.

When Nozomi finally smashed through the fifth Shuckle's defenses, Mizore then took a glance at her phone to see how much time was left: 1 minute and 47 seconds. That was cutting it really close.

Recording something down on her clipboard, Haruka then pulled out a walkie-talkie and spoke something into it. Wondering if that had anything to do with the test, Mizore got her answer when another gunshot rang through the air, though she had no idea what it meant.

"Miss Mizore, let's head back." Haruka flew over and told her. "Since everyone's finished with their test now, there's no need for us to stay here any longer. We should go back and see how everyone else performed on the test."

"Perhaps." Mizore nonchalantly shrugged aside Haruka's suggestion, only being concerned about Nozomi pulling through at the last minute. Other than her special one's achievement, there was nothing else Mizore was interested in.

Returning to the area where the test had started, Mizore saw that everyone else was already back except for Nozomi, and had gathered around Asuka. Touching down on the ground and recalling Pyotr, Mizore paid no heed to what the Elite Four member was saying until Nozomi had returned, running back alongside her Pokémon.

"-and Miss Kasaki over there completed the test in 58 minutes 13 seconds." Asuka finished off, then bent forward and stared at Nozomi. "You were cutting it quite close there, Miss Kasaki. Just a minute longer and you would've failed. Now, on to the final results."

"Hey, Mizore." Nozomi poked at Mizore's arm with her pointer finger, causing her to be shocked and blush at the sudden contact. "What did I miss? I hope it wasn't too important."

"Nothing much." Mizore really didn't know or care about what Asuka just said unless if it related to Nozomi in some way, though that didn't seem like a possibility based on how the Elite Four member worded her statement.

"Since all of you performed quite spectacularly, there's really nothing much to say." Asuka admitted. "Therefore, I'm pleased to tell you that all of you have passed the tests needed to become our aides! Omedetou!"

"Good to hear, but when are we getting off this empty rock?" Natsuki asked, unimpressed with Asuka's efforts to raise their morale. "We've been stuck here for the past two days doing these ridiculous tests you seem to make up on the spot back-to-back! Just let us go already!"

"Gaaah! Do you still not realize how important this is?" Yuuko was severely annoyed by Natsuki's indifference to the honor they received. "We've been recognized by the strongest Trainers in the region as people worthy of working alongside them, and all you can whine about is how you miss ordinary civilization? What sort of person are you?"

"Well, who was is that complained nonstop about not having a proper bathroom to get things done in, princess?" Natsuki retorted. "Why, you were talking about deserting this entire thing altogether just yesterday because your hair was getting greasy, so-"

"Enough about that. The past is in the past!" Yuuko angrily shouted, but there was a visible blush on her face, then turned to face Asuka. "Anyway, thank you very much for accepting us as your aides. We're all thankful for this special opportunity."

"No problem!" Asuka replied, making no mention of her or Natsuki's combined rant. "To celebrate you three getting in, we're all going to have a night out at Minant City, and I'm paying for everything!"

"Uhh, Asuka-senpai?" Kumiko piped up." Remember what you promised Reina and myself about dropping us off at Termezzo Town? Is that still valid right now? We've got to get there quite soon."

"Of course, Oumae-chan! You don't even need to ask" Asuka's overly-enthusiastic response put everyone present on edge except for Kaori. "We'll ship you and your girlfriend over to Termezzo Town, STAT!"

"Wait, what?" Natsuki was left completely shocked at the revelation that Kumiko and Reina's relationship had been taken up a notch without her noticing. "You two hooked up? Behind my back? When did this happen?"

"Well, it only happened two days ago, and we're still surprised that we confessed our feelings to each other during the date my older sister set up for us." Kumiko admitted, her hand unconsciously drifting towards Reina's. "Sorry for forgetting to tell you earlier. Since you looked quite tired after climbing up the cliff, we didn't want to disturb you when we came here."

"How did you two get together?" Yuuko was incredulous at the fact that Reina hadn't told her about this happening. Then again, the timeframe she mentioned just coincided with their intense two-day session of challenges, so perhaps she had been too busy to notice. "Did it happen naturally, or did something give you two the final push?"

"I'm not sure how to categorize it, but it seems like a bit of both." Reina thought. "Since Kumiko was getting bored with the date her sister planned, we ditched it midway to hike up a hill, where we played a duet and confessed to each other in the heat of the moment."

"What? That's so romantic it sounds like something out of a shoujo anime!" Natsuki exclaimed. "Come to think of it, I think I saw a scene like that in an anime about a high school concert band. I'm still upset the two main girls didn't end up together. They've got better chemistry than the guy they paired the protagonist up with in the movie."

"Well well well. Aren't you the one who always longs for romantic scenarios like these to happen?" Yuuko asked rhetorically. "In a way, it's kind of sad to see your 'kouhai' get that chance before you do."

"Who says that I don't have that sort of opportunity?" Natsuki snapped back. "It's just that a certain _someone_ refuses to play along and insists on having her own way every time. Remember that last time where we-"

"Now, now." Asuka chided the two freshly-minted aides. "Oumae-chan and Kousaka-chan need to get to their destinations quickly, so you'd better say your goodbyes before they head off with us."

"Alright then." Yuuko conceded. "I've only got one more thing to say to my friend's girlfriend. Oumae, remember to treat Kousaka well, or I'll be the nightmares your nightmares will have!"

"Likewise, Kousaka." Natsuki told Reina. "Though I can't put this as eloquently as Yuuko can, if I see any sign that my precious Kumiko-chan is being hurt by you, then I'll make sure you'll pay. With your soul!"

"Now that we've got all our goodbyes out of the way, let's get going!" Asuka declared, this time markedly more interested in the conversation. "For you two lovey-dovey Contest-goers, Termezzo Town awaits!"


	48. Chapter 48: Pictures at an Exhibition

Getting off from Asuka's Tropius, Kumiko and Reina were thankful the Elite Four member gave them a lift directly to Termezzo Town. Based on how long they had flown for straight from the plateau, they wouldn't have made it in time for the Contest Spectacular they were here for tomorrow if they had walked instead.

"Arrivederci, kouhais!" Asuka called out as her Tropius began to take off again, not even a moment after Kumiko and Reina's feet touched the ground. "It's been a nice few hours with you, so good luck, take care, and do well in tomorrow's Contest!"

Flying off into the picturesque sunset, Kumiko and Reina were left alone once Asuka disappeared from view. With night approaching soon, the couple were thankful they were dropped off in front of the Pokémon Center, and wouldn't need to waste any time looking for this familiar place somewhere new.

"After everything that's happened over the past two days, I'm glad we've arrived without any issues and some time to spare." Reina addressed Kumiko. "The only problem now is that we both haven't discussed or practiced any sort of routine for the Contest with our Pokémon, so we're going to go in empty-handed tomorrow."

"I've actually got some ideas, but I need to run them through with my Pokémon first." Kumiko replied. "Speaking of which, have you thought of anything yourself? If not, I'm happy to help."

"There's something I really want to try out tomorrow, but it all hinges on whether or not the method they use in other regions' Contests also works here." Reina thought back to an article she previously read. "It's a single-use trick I'm planning to save for the actual contest, but I can still practice the parts before and after."

"Sounds interesting." Kumiko was intrigued about what sort of crazy stunt her girlfriend was going to pull off. "Speaking of practice, there's not much time we've got to do that, so how about starting right after dinner? With everything that happened, I just realized we didn't even have lunch today!"

A growl from Reina's stomach confirmed Kumiko's suspicions, but Kumiko simply laughed off her uncharacteristic behaviour. "That's fine by me. We can't perform well if we don't get enough sleep, and we can't go to bed hungry, so let's head on in and get a hearty dinner. We've been starving ourselves for too long."

Filling up their bellies with some much-needed food, Kumiko and Reina went outside to find that the sky had turned dark while they were inside. Undeterred due to the artificial illumination of the surrounding streetlamps, the couple sent out their Pokémon, ready to discuss their plans for tomorrow's Contest Spectacular with them.

"Alright, listen up." Kumiko clapped her hands while speaking to get their Pokémon's attention. "Some of you may have overheard that Reina and myself are going to participate in a Contest Spectacular tomorrow, so you may be wondering what we're planning to do."

"Since neither us or you have participated in a Contest Spectacular, I'm going to explain what it is and how we're going to win." Despite her complete lack of experience, Reina reasoned that all their possible competitors were complete beginners as well, so experience was not going to be an issue for them.

"A Contest Spectacular is a type of show where Trainer and Pokémon participate together in a display of beauty, technique, and elegance." Reina began. "The show consists of two rounds: the Performance Stage and the Battle Stage."

"For the Performance Stage, we're going to show off a choreographed routine which includes your moves, and we can move on to the next stage if we get a high enough score." Reina continued. "In the Battle Stage, we fight against other Trainers who made it past the first round in an elimination bracket, but we have to do it fabulously."

"Reina and myself have decided that we're going to focus on making it past the first round, since battling is something you're all familiar with." Kumiko clarified further. "We've both thought of some routines we would like to do, so we'd like your opinions on them."

Hoping their Pokémon would agree with what they planned, the couple explained the specifics as their Pokémon listened with great interest. Once they confirmed who would be chosen to perform, Kumiko and Reina practiced with them for the rest of the night, hoping their concepts would shine through despite their lack of experience or preparation time.

* * *

"Yoo-hoo! Kumiko, Reina! Over here!"

Hazuki's cheerful voice broke through the crowd in the impromptu Contest Hall as Kumiko and Reina turned to look at her. While her right hand was energetically waving in the air, Midori stood close by as she hed two long bags draping on the ground, which only happened due to her short stature.

"Hi, Hazuki. Glad to see Midori and you made it here in time." Kumiko greeted her friend. "How was your date? Did everything go well?"

"It was fantastic!" Hazuki exclaimed. "Me and my date had a lot of fun together at the amusement park. We laughed together, screamed together, and had a lot of fun together! After the date ended, we promised to keep in touch with each other! I think we have a shot at becoming a couple!"

"That's great for you." Kumiko was happy nothing had gone wrong on Hazuki's date. While it wasn't as dramatic or exciting as her own with Reina from what Hazuki implied, it hadn't suddenly been derailed just like Kumiko's and gone in a completely unexpected direction. "Have you two prepared for the Contest?"

"We did, but only at the last minute." Midori spoke up, reminding everyone she was not just a living clothes rack. "Midori forgot our dresses were being sent to Midori's home instead of the Termezzo Town Pokémon Center, so Midori needed to ask her little sister to send them over. Other than that, we've got our routines all planned out. How about you two?"

"We've already got fancy clothes, so that was one thing we didn't need to worry about." Kumiko answered her friend. "Since we hopped around the region quite a lot during the past two days, we didn't really have time to practice the routines we thought of, so last night was the only time we had."

"Aww. That sucks to hear." Midori couldn't help but feel bad for Kumiko and Reina's lack of time. "But Midori still hopes you two can still do well even with such a severe time handicap. Break a leg!"

"Wait. Break a leg?" Hazuki was extremely confused at how Midori signed off. "That doesn't sound good. No one wants to do any sort of performance with a broken leg, so why say that to them?"

"It's an age-old tradition." Reina told Hazuki. "Since theatrical actors believed that directly wishing a person 'good luck' would bring them bad luck instead, they used this phrase instead to wish their colleagues well."

"Oh, I see." After hearing how Reina explained it, Hazuki thought this was a really cool way to cheer on someone else. "Then we've all got to break our legs and do well at the Contest today! Who's with me?"

"Hazuki-chan, we've got to go now." Midori informed her friend. "We still haven't registered for the Contest yet, so we need to get in line before the deadline. Have you registered yet, Kumiko-chan, Reina-chan?"

"Oh yeah! Right! I knew we were forgetting something!" Kumiko suddenly came to the realization that Reina and her had completely forgot to register at the desk upon seeing and talking with Hazuki and Midori. "See you two in a bit!"

Quickly dragging Reina back into the queue, Kumiko's departure left Hazuki and Midori by themselves, waiting for anything to happen. Not wanting to fall behind their more driven friends, Midori used her superior strength to yank Hazuki along with her, the noticeable difference in height and weight not slowing her down at all.

* * *

"Wow. I didn't know you could get dresses like that." Reina commented as she stared at some of the other contestants' outfits. While Kumiko and her had opted to reuse the dresses Mamiko gave them for their date, Reina couldn't help but be impressed by the array of fancy clothes on display.

Waiting backstage with Kumiko, Reina's eyes were split between observing the other contestants and looking at the screen showing the performances onstage, while she played out how her own routine would go in her mind. As time passed, the amount of people in the air slowly decreased, and Reina's eyes turned to the display again when she saw someone familiar about to begin their routine.

"Kumiko, look. Hazuki's on stage now." Reina tapped her girlfriend's shoulder. Turning to look at the screen, Kumiko saw Hazuki had changed into a light pink dress with a black area at the top and a similarly colored ribbon knotted in a bow around her midsection. Wearing a hair decoration consisting of multiple flowers, an aquamarine necklace, and blue glass heels, Kumiko had no idea Hazuki could look this good with just a simple change of attire.

Taking a deep breath before raising her hand wrapped around a Pokéball, Hazuki threw it into the air as sparks shot out from the Seals she placed. Seeing that spectacular display, Kumiko was relieved that she and Reina had also bought some yesterday evening at the Pokémon Center after Reina saw them on sale for the Contest.

Instead of a Pokémon she was familiar with, a Pachirisu popped out of Hazuki's Pokéball, surprising both Kumiko and Reina. Using Discharge to create three rings of electricity while leaping up, the couple wondered how Hazuki had the time to capture a new Pokémon while heading here.

"That's Vivo, Hazuki-chan's new Pachirisu." Midori informed Kumiko and Reina as she came over. "Hazuki-chan caught her when we were travelling between here and Minant City. Midori also caught a new Pokémon on the way, but Midori isn't using her this time."

"What's your new Pokémon, Midori?" Kumiko asked while Vivo did several backflips around Hazuki onstage, then balanced on her gigantic tail. "Do you mind telling us who's joined your team?"

"It's a secret for now, since Midori's got something special which can only be used by her." Midori mysteriously replied. "Once Midori gets it, then Midori's power level will skyrocket!"

"There's only several choices your new Pokémon could be when you put it that way." Midori's description about a Pokémon-specific item significantly narrowed down which Pokémon Reina thought Midori had. "Anyways, with how Hazuki's performing, I hope that your performance will be just as dazzling. Break a leg."

"You too, Reina-chan, Kumiko-chan!" Midori saluted at the couple, then resumed staring at the screen. On the display, Hazuki was just about finishing her performance, with Vivo charging up an Electro Ball on her tail before flinging it at her main body.

The attack's impact knocked Vivo skywards, sending her skywards as she curled up and used Rollout. Simultaneously, multiple Sparks flew out of her body in all directions, creating the illusion she was a living plasma ball.

With the display lighting up the entire stage, Vivo smiled at the audience after her attacks ended, landing on Hazuki's head as her Trainer waved to the wildly applauding audience, who were clearly impressed with the good show she put on.

"That was certainly impressive." Reina remarked once most of the cheers had died down. "What makes it even more amazing was that Hazuki managed to plan out this routine for a Pokémon she only caught two days ago at most. This means she either must have practiced a lot, or had extremely high compatibility with her Pachirisu right off the bat."

"Yeah. I can't imagine myself doing anything with a Pokémon I just captured without getting to know them better first." Kumiko admitted. While Hazuki certainly wasn't the best Trainer when it came to battling, it appeared she had a special talent for befriending Pokémon from what she just showed off.

As Hazuki left the stage, Kumiko's mind drifted as she saw performance after performance blend together on the screen, not many of them particularly catching her eye. Constantly repeating the steps she practiced with her Pokémon over and over mentally, Kumiko was worried about whether or not she would get through this without any major errors.

After some time, Kumiko saw that Midori had emerged on stage wearing a simple cream-colored dress with frills on the shoulders and similarly colored gloves. Combined with her pink and yellow flower hair decoration along with glass heels, Kumiko thought Midori looked extra cute in her outfit.

With a Pokéball delicately balancing on her gloved fingertips, Midori somehow spun it around in a display of dexterity as a flurry of flower petals swept around the stage. As the ground was slowly covered, this preshow cumulated in Midori's Floette Valse popping out of her Pokéball and floating towards the ground.

Using Grassy Terrain, Valse caused a field of green to sprout out from the floor, lifting up the scattered petals to create a mock flowerbed. Stepping forward, the ground where Midori just stood was also covered with grass, removing the last bare footprint-shaped spots of land.

An orb of sunlight formed on the flower Valse held, and she launched it skywards to create a Sunny Day, its rays of light illuminating the small patch of greenery that was stage as Midori brought the natural beauty of the great outdoors inside.

The audience was further convinced they really were in a garden when Valse used Aromatherapy, which persuaded their sense of smell alongside what they saw when the sweet scent of flowers washed over them.

Whipping up a Petal Blizzard next, Kumiko saw that Midori had thrown something at Valse just a moment before, but everything had happened so fast she couldn't see what it was. As she continued to watch on, a glow came from the whirlwind's center, reflecting on the petals in all directions.

Once the breeze died down, the petals fell to reveal that Valse had evolved into a Florges in the middle of everything. This caused Kumiko to realize Midori had lobbed a Shiny Stone, taking advantage of the Petal Blizzard's frenzy to perform a timed evolution.

Taking Midori's hand, Valse bowed and waved alongside her Trainer as they both received large amounts of applause from the audience, who were amazed by how Midori had managed to pull off the mid-Contest evolution so well.

While the other contestants waiting alongside Kumiko and Reina also gave nothing but a warm reception towards Midori's display, Kumiko noticed that her girlfriend was nowhere to be seen, but this was easily chalked up to Reina's performance being only a few contestants away.

Anxiously waiting for Reina's Contest debut, Kumiko then remembered her own turn was a few slots after Reina's, so she had her own preparations to worry about as well. The next few performances passed without much fanfare, leaving Kumiko anticipating with bated breath as Reina stepped on the stage, looking beautiful as ever in her fancy dress.

Holding her trumpet in her left hand, Reina rolled out the Pokéball in her right away from her. The Seals she put on beforehand started to spray out a small amount of water when the Pokéball stopped moving, creating a small puddle as the crowd looked on in confusion, wondering if this was a joke.

A short time later, the flow of water slowed down to a complete trickle and the Pokéball popped open with a flash. Once the momentary glow disappeared, Handel was left in its place, helplessly flopping inside the shallow pool of water surrounding him.

Hearing some people sniggering at that paltry display, Reina knew the first part of her plan had worked. Casting a look at Handel that was a mixture of contempt and pity, the resulting expression on Reina's face was so realistic that she heard several whispers and gasps from the audience wondering if she was an abusive Trainer.

Undeterred by these negative rumors, Reina put her trumpet to her lips and began to play the oboe solo from Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake. While Handel was certainly not a Swanna, something about his dismal appearance reminded Reina of the titular character from 'The Ugly Ducklett', which served as the crux of her performance.

Having full confidence this outrageous plan she thought up would work, Reina continued to let the music she played flow from her trumpet as Handel looked up at her. Flopping even more to get her attention, some members of the audience were about to leave from boredom when Handel began to glow.

Observing Reina's performance from the screen backstage, Kumiko remembered how stressful it was for both Reina and her to prepare for this moment. When Reina first proposed this idea, Kumiko wasn't sure if Reina was joking or not due to how implausible it seemed, but a determined look from her girlfriend put that matter to a quick close.

As Reina finished up her solo, she held on to the last note, waiting until Handel had finished evolving to completely stop. With the light now gone from him, it was clear to everyone watching what Reina had planned upon seeing how Handel had evolved into a magnificent Milotic, to which thunderous applause erupted from the audience.

Breathing a sigh of relief, Kumiko was pleased all the effort Reina and her had put in to guarantee Handel's evolution wasn't wasted. Since Feebas needed to be 'beautiful' enough (whatever that meant) to evolve, Kumiko and Reina spent last night baking 'beauty-increasing' Poffins using Berries bought in bulk from the Pokémon Center, which they fed to Handel earlier this morning.

While force-feeding a Pokémon more than they normally consumed was most likely a crime in several places, Reina had no choice but to do that with how little time she had to prepare. Thankfully, Handel was receptive to this idea when Reina told him he would be much stronger after evolving, and eagerly volunteered once he realized evolution would quickly get rid of all the excess food in his belly.

Now in the second part of her routine, Reina was currently in uncharted territory. Since she hadn't been able to practice any of this with Handel before he evolved, Reina hoped he understood what she told him yesterday well enough to follow her instructions to the letter, though she had a way to guide him throughout.

Starting to play on her trumpet again, this time it was Handel's (the composer) Water Music which came out. Despite the horrible pun, Reina felt this was the appropriate choice for this phase of her performance, since this piece was written to be played at celebrations. Considering how Handel successfully evolved in sync with her routine, Reina thought this really was a moment for celebration indeed.

As Reina's fingers dexterously pressed against her trumpet's valves, Handel gracefully slithered over to her side. The way he seemed to glide across the stage made it look like he was floating towards her, unaffected by any force of friction or gravity. Coiling around his Trainer, Handel let loose several Water Pulses in the air, which exploded above him like fireworks.

Even though this was his first time using the move, Handel still remembered what his Trainer told him yesterday about controlling when the water would burst. While Reina's explanation was quite technical and overly-specific at points, he still managed to get the gist of it due to being her Pokémon for quite a while.

It was thanks to this type of bond between Trainer and Pokémon that ensured nothing went wrong in this critical stage of the performance. None of this had been rehearsed before, so Reina had been deathly afraid of something going horribly wrong at every step.

Nevertheless, Reina continued to press on, having full confidence in both her and Handel's skills that everything would go smoothly. Breathing out an Icy Wind after firing off a few more Water Pulses, Handel caused the water to freeze in place the moment it exploded, creating crystals of frost in mid-air.

As the ice fractals fell down, it was now time for the finishing act. With a Dragon Tail, Handel smashed them all into tiny shards, sending this miniature storm of diamond dust at the audience. Combined with the various spotlights positioned around the stage, this resulted in a dazzling light show shining down from all angles.

Soaking in the second wave of applause while taking a bow, Reina left the stage as Kumiko tried to calm her nerves backstage. While watching her girlfriend perform was certainly an inspiring sight, Kumiko's mind could only focus on mentally revisiting her own plans, making sure she remembered everything.

Time passed as Kumiko got lost in her own thoughts, but she thankfully managed to snap out of it once the contestant before her left the stage. Standing up from where she was crouching, Kumiko took several deep breaths and walked over to the partition separating the backstage and the actual stage, Pokéball in hand.

The first thing Kumiko saw upon stepping on were the multitude of glaring spotlights shining at her from above, briefly blinding her. While she was used to this from her experiences performing on stage in her middle-school's concert band, the sudden return of these bright lights caught Kumiko off-guard.

Her eyes slowly adjusting to the change in illumination, Kumiko then took center stage. Pausing for a moment, Kumiko threw her Pokéball straight up, the Seals she put on sending orbs of dim light lazily floating above her head like a tiny swarm of Volbeat and Illumise.

As the spheres of light came drifting down, Kumiko caught her Pokéball as the Pokémon inside came out. Landing on the ground on one foot, the red orbs on Sparkle's head and tail flashed brightly as she appeared in front of the audience. Now that the stage was set, Kumiko inhaled deeply before she pressed the Key Stone on her Z-Power Ring, which triggered the Ampharosite placed in a tiara resting on Sparkle's head.

Sparkle's body glowed from the tiara down with the familiar light of Mega Evolution, the crowd was bewildered at the transformation she was undergoing, and Kumiko would have surely felt the same way if it wasn't for her practice last night. After Mega Evolving Orpheus and Sparkle several times each, Kumiko got used to the mental bonding process between her and her Pokémon.

Once the glow subsided, the effects of Mega Evolution on Sparkle's body were immediately noticeable. A mane of white wool was now growing out of her head, while her tail was also covered with the pale fluff, with multiple red orbs growing out of it.

Waiting for the applause to die down, Kumiko took this opportunity to steady herself before going over her next steps once more. Since she had complete faith Sparkle's Mega Evolution could wow the crowd, Kumiko was naturally more concerned with keeping them on the edge of their seats for the rest of her routine.

Creating several tiny Light Screens which floated around her, the red orbs on Sparkle's body lit up as she blasted out a Power Gem from all of them, trails of light coming out of her body. The resulting laser show was then reflected on the Light Screens, creating a dazzling display being reflected in all directions.

As the lights continued to bounce everywhere, Sparkle then let out several Confuse Rays from her tail, which hovered in the air along with any remaining Seals that were left. This already impressive display was soon compounded by an Ion Deluge, the electrically-charged particles of that move interacting with the various existing illuminations to give them a crackling aura of electricity.

Approaching the final part of her routine, Kumiko raised her hand into the air to draw the audience's attention. With the crowd looking up, Sparkle quickly shifted whatever Light Screens still remained to form a triangular prism floating above her in mid-air, and fired a Power Gem directly at it using only the red orb on her head.

With how the pyramid was shaped, the Power Gem bounced off in three different directions after it was reflected, bright light shining everywhere as the Light Screen slowly rotated like a disco ball. However, the reflecting move had reached its limit, causing the semi-transparent barriers to disappear a short time later.

Now that the Light Screen was gone, it was time for the 'showpiece' of Kumiko's routine. While the audience had been distracted by the flashing lights and lasers bouncing around, Sparkle had been moving her Light Screens around to scoop up the Confuse Rays, Ion Deluges, and any stray Seals that were left.

All of these had been subtly contained in the resulting pyramid and burst out once the Light Screen dissipated, creating one last shower of light above Sparkle and Kumiko. Bowing to a second round of grand applause, Kumiko hoped all this was impressive enough to get her into the next round.

"You're back earlier than I expected." Reina commented after Kumiko returned from her second round in the Battle Stage. "Knocking out your opponent's Pokémon with superior firepower really wasn't what I expected in this sort of Contest battle. Is advancing like that even allowed?"

"Well, the judges explained any defeat still counts as a victory for the other side, no matter how boring it is." Kumiko replied. "They also said these rules were created in regions where Contests are a popular alternative to battling, so Trainers who are strong enough to sweep the Battle Stage rarely participate in Contests."

After the Performance Stage was over, Kumiko and Reina were pleased to discover they had scored well enough to advance to the Battle Stage, and also spotted Hazuki and Midori's names in the running.

With only sixteen people being able to participate in this second round, the couple had quickly swept their first two battles, though Kumiko's ability to Mega Evolve Sparkle put her with an overwhelming advantage against the opponents she faced. Now in the semi-finals, an unlikely development had occurred: Kumiko would be facing Midori next, while Reina would be battling against Hazuki.

Since they saw their friends' Pokémon beforehand, Reina and Kumiko had some idea what they would be going up against, but they were unsure of what the outcomes would be. Though their earlier battles had been surprisingly easy, the couple knew their next opponents wouldn't be such pushovers.

As she waited while healing Sparkle up, Kumiko saw the battlefield onstage being restored to its original condition on-screen, her previous battle leaving the ground with scorch marks from Sparkle's powerful Thunderbolts. Once the stage had been cleared, Kumiko recalled Sparkle and stood up, ready to fight her friend.

A "break a leg!" from Reina put Kumiko's trembling nerves slightly at rest, and she went out tightly clutching Sparkle's Pokéball. Heading onto the stage again, Kumiko and Midori locked eyes as they entered from opposite wings, and threw out their Pokéballs, their Pokémon coming out amidst the effects of reapplied Seals.

Once Sparkle and Valse were both on the battlefield, the fight was on with an announcement from the judges. "Battle begin!"

"Sparkle, Mega Evolve!" Kumiko called out as she pressed down on her Key Stone. With the trademark glow of Mega Evolution, Sparkle's glorious white mane and tail were on full display for the audience to see.

"Valse, Moonblast!" Midori commanded, wanting to take the lead in this battle. Summoning a semblance of the moon above her, Valse then launched it at Sparkle with a twirl. Seeing the super-effective move approach Sparkle, Kumiko went for her usual counter.

"Use Thunderbolt to shoot the moon!" Firing out an arc of electricity, the added power of her Mega Evolution gave Sparkle the strength needed to smash through Valse's Moonblast, which exploded in a shining shower.

With the battle back to square one, both Kumiko and Midori were searching for ways to break the deadlock while looking fabulous. As this was their first time participating in a Contest, these sorts of ideas didn't come naturally to them. However, Kumiko seemed to have hit on a solution upon thinking back to her earlier performance.

"Sparkle, set up some Light Screens!" Several semi-translucent barriers popped up around Sparkle, and she quickly assembled them into a makeshift barricade in front of her while Kumiko thought about what to do next. Since Midori had seen the tricks Kumiko had done with this trick earlier, she knew getting rid of them was her top priority.

"Petal Blizzard, pizzicato!" Midori shouted, and a whirlwind of petals appeared around Valse. Instead of swamping Sparkle with all of them at once, Valse shot out each petal one-by-one at high speeds, slowly but surely whittling down Sparkle's Light Screen.

Waiting for Midori's barrage to finally end, Kumiko was relieved her attack failed to completely chip away at Sparkle's barriers, but only one Light Screen remained. Reasoning that her plan could still work with what was left, Kumiko then told Sparkle to move it behind Valse. Since she already anticipated what Kumiko was about to do, Midori decided to nip her friend's next move in the bud.

"Use a Moonblast at that Light Screen!" After the damage Valse's previous Petal Blizzard had done, Midori was confident the last barrier would fall with a powerful move. As Valse prepared to fire off this decisive move, Midori's instructions before the battle to make each move look glamorous bit her in the back.

The twirl Valse did before firing out her Moonblast gave Kumiko the moment she needed. While she wasn't the most fabulous Trainer around, Kumiko decided to stick with her guns rather than try something she wasn't good at, which paid off in spades here. "Sparkle, Thunderbolt!"

Launching a Thunderbolt at her remaining Light Screen, Sparkle's powerful move broke her own barrier as the electricity was reflected at Valse from behind, slamming into her and preventing the Moonblast from being used. As Valse tried to reorient herself, several more Thunderbolts from Sparkle proved too much for her to handle, and she collapsed a few moments later.

"Florges is unable to battle! Kumiko Oumae advances to the finals!" the judges announced.

After Midori recalled Valse, Kumiko went over and shook her friend's hand, happy that they had a good battle together.

"Congrats on winning, Kumiko-chan!" Midori didn't seem upset from the way she spoke, but Kumiko could feel a slight undercurrent of disappointment in her voice. "That really was an awesome fight, but Midori will make sure to train harder and beat you next time!"

"Yeah. Same here." After hearing her friend speak, Kumiko was now certain there were three things that were certain in the universe: death, taxes, and Midori's boundless enthusiasm. "Though I do wish we'd have a full battle with all our Pokémon next time. I can't wait to see who you'll be fighting with!"

As Reina observed her girlfriend shaking hands with Midori, she knew that it was almost time for her to battle herself. Recalling Handel after briefing him on some possible combinations, Reina stood up and prepared to face the music.

A short while later, Reina was looking directly at Hazuki from across the battlefield. With both Handel and Vivo making spectacular debuts on the stage courtesy of their Pokéballs' Seals, the fight soon started with the judges' announcement. "Battle begin!"

"Vivo, Discharge!" Hazuki called out. Sending out a pulse of electricity, Hazuki was sure that Vivo and her had the upper hand due to the Electric type's natural super-effectiveness against the Water type. However, Reina had thought of this possibility as well, so she took a page out of Kumiko's book and went for a simple but effective counter.

Putting her trumpet to her lips, Reina played a section of Reed's El Camino Real as Handel used Bulldoze, slamming his tail on the ground as it crumbled beneath him, causing the chunks of stage thrown up by his attack to block Vivo's Electric-type move.

With the ground beneath her literally breaking apart, Vivo scampered wildly as she tried to find some stable footing, but she soon resorted to backflips while balancing on her tail whenever she could.

As El Camino Real continued to blare out from Reina's trumpet, Handel's repeated Bulldozes kept Vivo from actually launching out super-effective attacks while barraging her with them. While this was certainly not the most fabulous way to win, it was the only way for Reina to eke out a victory in such a horrible matchup.

Eventually, Vivo was unable to keep dodging the barrage of Bulldozes from Handel, and succumbed to the floor's wrath. With the ground now in shambles along with Vivo, this battle had now come to an unexpected but quick end.

"Pachirisu is unable to battle! Reina Kousaka advances to the finals!' the judges announced.

Navigating around the ripped-up floor to where Hazuki was standing, Reina made sure to extend her hand as a show of common courtesy, wanting to commend Hazuki for her good effort.

"Even though it didn't look like it when we were battling, you had me on the ropes there." Reina told Hazuki. "Since Bulldoze is a Milotic's only counter against Electric-types, you would've won in any other scenario."

"Uhh… thanks?" Hazuki wasn't sure how to take Reina's compliment, but it was still a nice compliment nonetheless despite how sad she felt at losing. "I may have lost this time, but I'll make sure to work and train hard so I can beat you once we meet again. Mark my words!"

* * *

"Wow, I can't believe this is the first time we've actually faced each other in a battle." Reina addressed Kumiko as they stood across from each other, anxious about fighting her girlfriend.

"Yup, and I'll give it my best shot!" While Kumiko knew she held the advantage on paper with Sparkle's type advantage, she was sure Reina had something up her sleeve to deal with this just like in her battle with Hazuki.

As the couple prepared for their inevitable showdown, Kumiko was trying to get her feelings in check. Breathing in and out while mentally assuring herself that this wouldn't put a dent in their relationship, something unexpected brought her back to reality.

Out of nowhere, a sudden 'BOOM!' shook the stage, interrupting Kumiko's ponderings. As the two girls looked over at the source of the noise, they saw dust swirling in from outside, which stirred their suspicions. Looking around them, Kumiko and Reina saw the audience was being evacuated from their seats as an announcement was being broadcasted.

"Attention. This is an emergency announcement." an automated voice droned out. "Due to unforeseen circumstances, we regret to inform you this event has been abruptly cancelled. Please leave in an orderly manner and contact your ticketing agent for further enquiries about refunds. We apologize for any inconvenience caused."

"Kumiko, we should leave right now!" Reina exclaimed as she sent out Eurydice, not wanting anything bad to befall them. However, Kumiko stood firm as she looked her girlfriend in the eye, remembering the promises they made.

"No, I want to see what's happening." She declared. "With you by my side, we can face any problem together."

"Miss Tanaka, we've received a report that an Ultra Wormhole has suddenly appeared above Termezzo Town!" Tomoe barged into Asuka's office. "Ultra Beasts seem to be appearing from it, though we aren't sure of that yet. What do you suggest we do? Send us aides over? The Elite Four? Or maybe even the Champion?"

"Neither!" Asuka slammed her hands down on her desk, causing Tomoe to flinch. "We've already got people on site to deal with this sort of problem, and I don't mean Oumae-chan or Kousaka-chan, who should be participating in their contest right now. What I mean are honest-to-goodness demon slayers!"

"Demon slayers? You don't mean…" Tomoe was speechless at who Asuka was proposing to unleash. While she knew they were specialized for anti-Ultra Beast missions, Tomoe wasn't sure where fact ended and fiction began with them.

Whatever happened next was definitely going to be a display of utter chaos.

"Akihito, are you really going out to fight?" a girl with short pink hair wearing red-rimmed glasses worriedly asked. "You know that you can't defend yourself just like the rest of us, so you're going to get hurt again. How unpleasant!"

"Relax, Mirai." A young man with blond hair and chestnut-colored eyes reassured her. "You know I can regenerate from anything, so there's nothing to be scared about. Well, aside from feeling excruciating pain, of course. But as long as I've got a bespectacled beauty like you by my side, I can power through!"

"Don't worry. Akkey will be fine with all of us around." Another young man with black hair in a bowl cut and greenish-gray eyes declared. "But the person I'm most worried about is my dear Mitsuki. Oh, how I wish I could shield her from all the evils in the world."

"Ew. Gross. Cut out the crap and stop perving over your own little sister, Hiroomi." A girl with black hair and reddish-brown eyes looked at her older brother with pure disgust. "Any more siscon talk, and I'll rip your smooth-talking tongue right out of your mouth."

"Fine, fine. I rest my case. Whatever we're going to face, let's go beyond the boundary!"

* * *

A/N: Wow, I can't believe it's already been a year since I started publishing To Be A Solister! It still feels like yesterday that Kumiko's Pokémon journey began, but a lot has happened in that time both in her world and ours. Regardless of when you started reading this story, thank you to everyone who has continued to support Kumiko and Reina through everything. It really means a lot to me.

For those of you who are confused about who's talking at the end there, those four are the main characters from Kyoukai no Kanata (Beyond the Boundary), another anime by Kyoto Animation. If you're not that familiar with them, just think of them as special guests in the story, similar to the Pokémon Snap or Pokémon Ranger crossovers in the Pokémon anime.

As a quick heads-up, there most likely won't be a special Kumiko birthday chapter, as the next three chapters are part of a single unbroken arc. However, if time allows for it, I may still write something in time for Kumiko's birthday, so stay tuned!


	49. Chapter 49: Kyoukai no Kanata - Part 1

Making a hasty exit from the auditorium where the Contest was being held, Kumiko and Reina quickly saw first-hand the reason why their battle had been cancelled just before it began. While Kumiko expected something bad happening, never would she have guessed how much destruction awaited her outside.

"What… happened here?" Almost left speechless from the mortifying sight, Kumiko continued to look around as her mind tried to process how this had all happened. Rows of buildings on either side of the street had been torn apart, and the path separating them wasn't in any better condition.

Kumiko's first guess about why everything had been rampantly destroyed was that a freak windstorm swept through the town for a brief moment, which would explain where the inhuman amount of force needed to bring down man-made structures came from.

However, further inspection proved this was definitely not the case. There were abnormally large claw marks amidst the wreckage, and parts of buildings seemed to be blown off by attacks. While this would normally mean that a Pokémon or several was behind all this, Kumiko couldn't think of any Pokémon outside of Legendaries or Mythicals which could destroy this much in such a short amount of time.

"What do you think caused this?" Reina turned to Kumiko, a piece of rubble in her hand. For some reason, the edges around the debris she held were completely smooth, quite unlike anything which would have crumbled under brute strength. "There's nothing natural about the damage around us, and very few Pokémon have this type of power."

Unable to come up with any sort of answer for this mysterious phenomena, the couple saw no choice but to head away from the auditorium. While it was one of the few buildings which hadn't been destroyed in the initial impact, Reina pointed out that it could collapse if what happened before repeated itself, leaving them trapped inside.

Moving slowly to avoid the sharp shrapnel lining the ground, Kumiko and Reina cautiously made their way to more stable footing, not wanting to accidentally hurt themselves in this disaster area. After a while of careful treading, the couple finally reached an area where the buildings and road were intact, with people and Pokémon gathering there.

"Kumiko-chan, Reina-chan, Midori's glad to see that you both are all right!" Midori exclaimed, waving to the couple alongside Hazuki from where they were standing. "We couldn't get a hold of you two after coming here, so we feared the worst had happened!"

"Don't worry, we're OK. It just took us longer than expected to arrive here from the auditorium." Kumiko reassured her worried friends. "Has anyone said anything about what's behind this?"

"People think it's because of a Legendary, but no one knows for sure." Hazuki answered, shrugging her shoulders. Hearing other people nervously whisper with no certainty in their voices, Kumiko and Reina concluded that whatever just happened was most likely some sort of unexplainable freak accident, and prepared to leave along with Midori and Hazuki.

Just as the quartet was about to make their way out of Termezzo Town, crashes were heard from behind, followed by an extremely unsettling noise which Kumiko could only describe as the sound of something being completely erased from existence.

With the crowd starting to panic and flee as the rumbles got louder and louder, Kumiko felt the ground quake beneath her feet as something approached them slowly but surely. From how strong the tremors were, whatever was homing in on them did not seem to be a normal Pokémon, and Kumiko could only stare in horror at the abomination heading her way once that thing got into view.

The creature had a spherical black body with a gigantic gaping mouth in the middle, whose front and back rows of teeth were yellow and black respectively. Two teeth curved out of the back row's upper jaw akin to tusks, though they were overshadowed by other things in and out of its maw.

The inside of its bright blue mouth and the large black tongue in it were lined with small spikes, with two smaller tongues resembling pincers on the ends of long arms sticking out. Above its mouth, a yellow diamond sat between two glowing blue eyes, and a smaller conical head with two more eyes sat above that, and four yellow-tipped horns formed a ring around it.

A pair of arms with three yellow claws each were on top of its body, which was supported by a pair of thick but short legs, also with three claws each. Rounding out this beast's eldritch appearance was a stubby tail with a ball of spikes on the end, giving the impression of a medieval mace. To everyone watching, nothing about this creature felt natural at all.

Seeing the 'thing' which had most likely been the root of all this chaos, Kumiko could only stifle her screams as she saw how it wreaked havoc where it stood. Using its long pincer-tongues, the beast started to suck up everything around it into the gigantic crevasse that was its mouth, akin to a black hole.

What made this even more frightening was that there was no sound coming from the abomination as it devoured whatever was in its path, save for the unnerving noise Kumiko heard earlier. As people fled behind them, Kumiko was about to follow them as well when she saw Reina stalwartly standing, all her Pokéballs in hand.

"If this thing isn't stopped." Kumiko was slightly creeped out at how Reina referred to the creature in front of them. "Then it will certainly devastate the entire town, and possibly more of the region after that. As Trainers blessed with unique gifts, we have to do everything in our power to try and stop it."

Sending out her full team, Reina then proceeded to Mega Evolve Eurydice, prompting Kumiko to follow suit as well. Seeing their friends taking a stand against the colossus in front of them, Hazuki and Midori also decided to help out. Leaving their friends all alone to fend against this beast wasn't an option for them.

Choosing to Mega Evolve Orpheus this time, Kumiko then commanded her Pokémon to use their most powerful attacks, with Reina and her friends joining in as well. Sending a barrage of moves the creature's way, what it did in response caused the four Trainers to reconsider this impulsive decision.

Instead of moving away or tanking the ranged attacks outright, the beast simply opened its mouth and inhaled them, that unsettling sound being heard again as the moves simply vanished into its maw with no damage taken. Swatting away the close-ranged attackers with its pincered tongues, it seemed like nothing could stop this implacable creature.

Telling their Pokémon to fall back as the abomination lumbered ever closer, the quartet retreated behind a row of still-intact buildings, hoping that being wouldn't spot them through the numerous alleys and windows. Once she confirmed everyone and their Pokémon were safe and sound, Reina began to address the group.

"That was a complete failure." she spat out. While this display of raw emotion from the normally cool Reina surprised Hazuki and Midori, Kumiko knew that her girlfriend's hostile temperament had taken over upon smelling the first tinges of a possible defeat. "And now we're stuck cowering for our lives, unable to do anything in the face of imminent danger."

Kumiko's thoughts paused as she admired the poetic sentence Reina just spoke out loud, enamoured with the way her girlfriend had with words. Lost in the throes of love yet again, Kumiko wasn't aware of what was happening until she felt an imposing presence loom above her.

As the other three girls turned to look at this source of uneasiness, the quartet then saw the behemoth's four eyes stare down at them, before it brought its two tongue-pincers forward, tearing down the building they were pressed against. With nowhere to run or hide, the girls prepared to make a last stand when the creature was attacked from behind. Peering over the window, the vantage point offered Kumiko limited viewing options, but that combined with what she heard was enough.

"Sacred Sword!" Kumiko heard a young woman's voice yell. Before her mind could process what was going on, Kumiko saw a blur of red, black, and pink blitz across the beast's back, knocking it down with a single blow. Slowing down, the myriad colors revealed themselves to be a pink-haired girl wearing red-rimmed glasses, who was currently holding a Shiny Aegislash by the hilt in her right hand.

"Aurora Veil!" Two voices belonging to a young man and woman rang out. Barriers slammed the creature from its left and right, severely restricting its already limited movement even further. As the frigid shields continued to squash the abomination, Kumiko could see they were being cast by a Cryogonal and a Frosmoth.

"Thanks, guys. Chandelure, Flame Burst!" a young man's voice exclaimed in gratitude. From above, a small but speedy shot of fire impacted the monster, pressing down on it with surprising force. With more spurts of ember raining down, the beast's previously stout stamina slowly gave way, until it could do little more but barely keep itself standing.

"Alright! Beast Ball, go!" Confused as to what that term meant, Kumiko was wondering if it was some type of sporting equipment before she saw a strange blue Pokéball with yellow rings around it being thrown down, capturing the beast in one fell swoop. As the Pokéball shook while containing the monster inside, this revelation shocked the quartet even more compared to seeing the beast itself.

The ability to be captured by a Pokéball meant the beast wasn't some sort of incomprehensible abomination, but rather a Pokémon just like any of Kumiko's partners. With how it looked and acted, the monster resembled something out of an old movie, but seeing it being caught reminded Kumiko she wasn't in some cheesy sci-fi flick where writers could make up what they wanted.

Upon hearing the Pokéball resoundingly click shut, the quartet then emerged from where they were hiding, relieved the imminent danger was now over. Walking over back to the main road, Kumiko wondered just who had saved them from an untimely demise when she saw several bickering a short distance away.

"Seriously? Charging in like that?" the pink-haired glasses girl who Kumiko saw earlier complained. "I know you're basically immortal, but your Chandelure isn't! Stop doing reckless things and start caring about your Pokémon's safety. How unpleasant of you!"

"I really can't help it. Getting into mortal peril is like a force of habit for me." A young man with blond hair and chestnut-colored eyes talked back. "Wouldn't any normal person want to help rescue people and Pokémon in danger if they themselves couldn't get hurt at all? You really don't need to worry about me!"

"I'm not worried about you not making it out alive, but that you've got an unhealthy death wish." A black-haired young woman with reddish-brown eyes spoke up in irritation. "Is going around jumping in to save people out of the good of your own heart, or just you trying to find a way to die?"

"Relax. Chandelure's Ghost-type, so they can't really die under normal circumstances, including ones their Trainer gets into." Another young man with black hair in a bowl cut and greenish-gray eyes tried to defuse the situation with facts and logic. "Speaking of circumstances, aren't those the Trainers we just rescued from that Guzzlord just now?"

Turning to Kumiko and her friends, the black-haired young man waved at them. "Hey! Are you girls alright? Do you need any medical attention or something? Or maybe some therapy after what you just witnessed? Man, how could normal people make sense of all that?"

"Don't act that crudely in front of strangers!" the young woman with long black hair smacked the young man on the back of the head. "I know you're a perverted siscon who deserves to rot in the depths of hell, but at least have the decency to keep your eccentricities to yourself!"

"What…" Kumiko really didn't know how to react in this sort of scenario. Judging by their comments, the four people standing in front of her were apparently the Trainers who swiftly took down that mysterious Pokémon, but they didn't seem to act the part. Then again, Asuka existed.

"Don't worry, my friends act like that all the time." The blond-haired young man walked over. Upon closer inspection, Kumiko saw he was wearing a green woollen vest with white and blue diamond patterns over a red tie and white dress shirt, and grey dress pants with white sneakers. "The name's Akihito Kanbara, and I'm with this town's Ultra Beast Suppression Squad."

"Ultra Beasts? You don't mean those extra-dimensional Pokémon?" Even though the newcomer had confirmed what they were facing, Kumiko couldn't help but be reminded what Aoi told her before about fighting them. If even an Elite Four member had trouble with that, then how could these people deal with them this quickly?

"You don't get to choose our name for us, Akihito. You're not even part of the team in the first place. How unpleasant!" The pink-haired girl from earlier came over while interjecting after Kumiko asked her question. A long-sleeved pink cardigan covered the blue dress she was wearing, which Kumiko thought resembled a school uniform. "Sorry about my boyfriend's behaviour. He can be a real pain in the backside sometimes. I'm Mirai Kuriyama. Nice to meet you."

"Likewise. I'm Kumiko Oumae, and my friends are Reina Kousaka, Hazuki Katou, and Midori. Thanks for saving us back there." Shaking hands with Mirai, Kumiko noticed the calluses on her hand and the firmness of her grip, which was unusual for a girl with such a petite and delicate frame like her. Was this related to how she managed to blitz that Ultra Beast?

"Mirai, you still haven't explained to the people we saved about what just happened." With a strange purple Pokémon perching on her shoulder, the girl with long black hair went over to Mirai's side. Though she wore the same dress as Mirai, the way she looked and conducted herself reminded Kumiko of Reina. "Mitsuki Nase, and the Pokémon with me is my companion Yaki-imo."

"Wait. Why do you look like me?" Taking a glance at Mitsuki, Reina seemed confounded as she walked closer to where Kumiko was. "And are you the people who saved us from that gigantic Pokémon? If so, thank you very much for what you did. I thought we had no chance of surviving there."

"Relax. There's no need for that type of gratitude, young lady." The young man with black hair in a bowl cut stepped over, the black and red striped scarf over his neck billowing in the wind. Under his black vest were a green tie and white dress shirt. "I'm Hiroomi Nase, Mitsuki's older brother and the 'leader' of this team here."

"Can you explain what happened back there?" Reina asked, hoping that the 'leader' could give them some information about who they were and what they had just faced. "That clearly wasn't a normal Pokémon, and you all certainly aren't normal Trainers from how quickly it was defeated. Even our best attacks couldn't do so much as scratch it."

"Okay, let's start from the beginning." Hiroomi took a deep breath and prepared to condense a lot of details into several short sentences. "To begin with, all four of us aren't normal human beings. We're Spirit World Warriors, people gifted with unique and supernatural abilities. Since ancient times, we've been protecting the world from Ultra Beasts."

"Ultra… Beasts?" Hazuki didn't know what that referred to as she and Midori got closer. "And unique abilities? Does that mean you have superpowers or something like that?"

"Sort of, but I've never really thought of them that way." Hiroomi laughed at Hazuki's comparison. "They're passed down by blood, so very few people can use them. Here, let me give you a demonstration."

Stretching out his hand, a light blue barrier appeared parallel to Hiroomi's palm, causing the quartet to stare in wonder. While some of their Pokémon had moves which could produce the same effect, this was the first time any of them had seen a person do the same. Psychics weren't rare, but this type of power was on another level altogether.

"Mitsuki and myself both have the ability to produce extremely strong barriers, which can be used for both offense and defense." Hiroomi explained. "Mirai can manipulate her blood into any shape or form she wants, and Akihito… can regenerate from almost any injury."

"As for Ultra Beasts, they're simply Pokémon from another dimension who arrived here through wormholes." Mitsuki continued, the purple Pokémon by her side floating in the air. "They used to be called 'youmu' or 'dreamshades' in the old days when it was just the Spirit World Warriors fighting them, but more people started to be aware of their existence after what happened in Alola a few years back."

"Who's that Pokémon beside you?" Midori was curious at the strange Pokémon hovering around Mitsuki. Its purple body, blue eyes, and bulbous head were unlike any Pokémon she had seen before. Was this somehow related to what Midori just heard?

"Yaki-imo's a Poipole, a rare type of Ultra Beast." Mitsuki answered. "Traditionally, Spirit World Warriors aren't supposed to befriend the Ultra Beasts they hunt, so I haven't caught Yaki-imo to keep his existence a secret from my family, but they're thankfully more accepting about it now."

"Alright, since we've explained enough about ourselves already, back to the topic at hand." Hiroomi railroaded the conversation into more pressing matters. "The Ultra Beast we just saved you from wasn't the only one that emerged from the wormhole earlier. In fact, the estimates we got suggest that about as ten Ultra Beasts of varying shapes, sizes, and abilities are currently causing chaos all over Termezzo Town."

"Ten? That many?" If a single Ultra Beast had already destroyed that much of the town, then what ten could do made Reina afraid. Forget this area being entirely obliterated. With that many rampaging out there, the entire region was now at stake.

"We've faced hordes of twenty or even thirty Ultra Beasts at once before, so ten wouldn't be an uphill battle for us." Hiroomi seemed confident in his prediction. "However, we had lots of help back then, which means this is going to be a more even match. Unless we can locate those Trainers the League told us were here, then it's going to be difficult keeping the Ultra Beasts' damage to a minimum."

"The League?" Reina wasn't surprised they had a hand in the matter, but she was caught off-guard by the news that there were other powerful Trainers here as well. "Could you tell us their names and what they look like? We could help you find them."

"Their names are Kumiko Oumae and Reina Kousaka, and the League staff who contacted me said they should be near the auditorium." As Akihito, Mirai, Kumiko, and herself facepalmed, Reina was confused as to why Hiroomi didn't know their names, but she realized he only arrived after they had already finished their introductions.

"That's us!" Kumiko exclaimed, coming to the same conclusion as her girlfriend. Since more time wasted here could mean more people getting hurt, she decided not to dwell on this misunderstanding further. "But why did the League ask you to find us? Aren't there better options?"

"Unfortunately, no." Hiroomi replied. "Since Ultra Beast attacks can happen at any time, it's hard to call in powerful Trainers from far away to deal with them when they happen, so the League often requests notable Trainers close by to help when a wormhole appears."

"Alright, so what are we supposed to do now?" With everything made clear, Kumiko hoped that the assistance Reina, Hazuki, Midori, and herself were able to provide could help in some way, but she wasn't sure how. "When we first tried to attack the Ultra Beast you and your friends defeated, it literally swallowed all our Pokémon's moves or swatted them away. If the other Ultra Beasts here are like it, what's the secret to defeating them?"

"The Ultra Beast from before was a Guzzlord, a Dark and Dragon-type." Akihito lightly threw the strange Pokéball which Kumiko saw had been used to capture the Ultra Beast. "Its gigantic mouth allows it to eat anything and everything in its field of view, which is why we chose to attack at a distance from other directions. Only Mirai is fast enough to deal a blow at close range without any risk."

"Since we're not sure what other Ultra Beasts are out there, here's what we'll do." Hiroomi laid out his plan. "There's not much time to teach you how to defeat each Ultra Beast, so follow our instructions when we encounter one. We'll split into two teams to search the town and fight them. Akihito and Mirai will go to the west side with Kumiko and Reina, while Mitsuki and myself will go to the east side with…"

"Hazuki Katou and Midori. Only Midori." Midori spoke up, not wanting Hazuki to accidentally let slip her secret. "I know there is no way I can vouch for the battling skills of Hazuki or I right now, but I can assure you that we will give it our all in helping you fight off the Ultra Beasts."

Hearing Midori speak normally made Kumiko and Reina do a double take. While they certainly knew Midori was clearly putting up an act with her childish way of speaking, both of them could never have guessed that the usually bright and bubbly Midori was capable of speaking in such a formal manner. Just who was she?

Brushing off that tangent, Kumiko and Reina went over to Akihito and Mirai's side as Hazuki and Midori joined Hiroomi and Mitsuki. With a quick wave goodbye, both groups parted ways while heading towards their respective destinations, preparing to face off against opponents unknown.

For some reason, Kumiko felt that this would be the last time she would see Hazuki or Midori for quite a while. Even if she didn't know where this line of thought came from, it deeply unsettled her with how morbid it sounded and made her uneasy. Shelving this disturbing notion away for another time, Kumiko decided to focus on what she currently needed to do now.

Holding onto Reina's hand to reassure herself after thinking such dark thoughts, Kumiko was relieved when her girlfriend gripped her hand tighter in return. The familiar coolness of Reina's skin translated itself into a security blanket for Kumiko's insecurities, reminding her there would always be someone by her side.

Walking along a partially destroyed road, Kumiko saw that Akihito and Mirai were holding hands as well, happily walking together as a couple. Since there really wasn't much to do while on the lookout for Ultra Beasts (whatever they looked like), Kumiko decided to ask them about their relationship.

"How did you two get together?" Throwing out her question haphazardly, Kumiko instantly wondered if what she just said was too insensitive, especially since she just met the couple only a few short moments ago. However, Akihito simply laughed as he gave Kumiko the most direct explanation possible.

"She tried to kill me with her blood sword after I told her not to jump off a building and complimented her glasses." he bluntly replied. Seeing Kumiko and Reina's shocked faces, Mirai couldn't help but giggle with her boyfriend as they realized what he just said didn't make sense out of context.

"Come again?" While Reina had been in scenarios where she was woefully under-prepared for what was to come, she could never have anticipated what came out of Akihito's mouth. Thankfully, Mirai provided her with some much needed clarification.

"Originally, I was sent to kill Akihito since my corrosive blood was the only possible way to counter his regeneration." Mirai thought back to that awkward first encounter. "But after I got to know him better and defeat Ultra Beasts with his help, I started to fall in love with him, which he reciprocated after a while."

"By 'after a while', do you mean after you sacrificed your memories to save me and we went through hell and back to restore them?" Akihito rhetorically asked, ignoring how Kumiko and Reina were completely locked out of the loop. "You're really oversimplifying this by a lot here, Mirai."

Before Kumiko and Reina could ask just what Akihito meant by all that, they heard a slashing sound ring through the air before a nearby building was suddenly split lengthwise into two. Seeing the top half slide off the bottom and slamming into the ground with a massive 'CRASH!', Akihito and Mirai quickly snapped into action, sending out their Pokémon.

"Chi, Sacred Sword!" Holding her Shiny Aegislash by the hilt, Mirai then slashed towards the building, causing a wave of compressed air to head in its direction. Despite how impressive that display of swordsmanship looked, it was quickly broken apart by a parry from the unknown assailant, with the resulting bursts impacting two other buildings instead.

"You two, stay back!" Akihito addressed Kumiko and Reina. "What we're dealing with here is a Kartana, an Ultra Beast whose entire body is as sharp as a sword! Since it quickly glides around like airborne paper, only Mirai can match it in terms of speed and power! Don't go close to her!"

Heeding Akihito's advice, Kumiko and Reina then observed as Mirai traded a series of rapid sword strikes with the mysterious Pokémon, becoming the blur of colors Kumiko saw earlier. With a particularly loud 'CLANG!', Mirai and the Pokémon were knocked away from each other, giving Kumiko a glimpse of what it looked like.

A origami-like humanoid no taller than a standard-length ruler revealed itself to be the 'Kartana' Akihito was just describing, with its razor-thin body being mostly white with patches of orange and yellow dotted around. Two short antennae rested on top of its 'head', which was white except for an 'indented' X-shaped area in the middle. Long arms as thin as paper stretched out from its body, with yellow 'wings' unfolding from its back and 'orange areas visible along the edges of creased' white legs.

"Heat Wave!" Kumiko heard Akihito call out. Feeling the air heat up around her before seeing the familiar orange aura blanket her surroundings, the Shiny Chandelure by Akihito's side emanated a powerful blast of hot air towards the Kartana, causing it to be knocked backwards and up from the impact. After the temperature had dropped again, Akihito nodded to Mirai, who was currently resting in a crouching position.

"Aerial Ace!" she exclaimed, launching herself in a burst of speed. Before the Kartana could recover from being knocked off-course by the Heat Wave, Mirai had already smashed it to the ground using her Aegislash. Confirming that it was in no condition to continue fighting, Akihito threw another one of the strange blue-and-yellow Pokéballs at the Kartana, successfully capturing it in a few shakes.

"There. One down, who knows how many more to go." Akihito commented, picking up the Pokéball. "That went rather smoothly, don't you think? The Kartana didn't move around that much compared to the others we've faced before, so dealing with it was a lot quicker than I expected."

"Coming from you, that's always easy to say." Mirai retorted. "You're the one who can regenerate from life-ending injuries and safely attack from a distance, but I've got to stick my neck out and fight at close quarters! I'm exhausted right now, and I was nicked several times in the fight against the Kartana!"

"Sorry, Mirai. I didn't know you got hurt that badly. I'll-" Akihito's apology was cut short by Mirai interrupting him with even more complaints, and the couple soon descended into an argument about how taxing the fight was on them. Looking at the couple in disbelief, Kumiko couldn't imagine Reina and her being at odds with each other like that.

"Uhh… should we step in?" Kumiko asked Reina. "There's still Ultra Beasts remaining, and they're the only ones who know how to defeat them. If we just let them be, we could waste a lot of time waiting for this to end."

"Good point. Let me just-" Just as Reina was about to break apart the quarrelling couple, she and Kumiko heard a whistling noise barrelling through the air behind them. Turning around to look at the sound's source, they spotted a small shape gliding towards them, its size and movements most likely indicating it was another Kartana.

Remembering what Akihito said about its body being like a sword, Kumiko's mind leapt to the only possible Pokémon she could send out in this split second. With Orpheus quickly out and Mega Evolved, Kumiko saw that Reina also had a Mega Evolved Eurydice by her side to support her from the side. About to attack, Kumiko then realized she didn't know one important detail.

"What types does a Kartana have?" Kumiko asked, not wanting to make a mistake and mess up the entire Ultra Beast hunting operation. Immediately stopping their spat, Akihito and Mirai then faced her, embarrassed that they were too caught up in their own troubles to notice a new opponent.

"It's Grass-" Akihito began, but Kumiko had already sprang into action. Slashing forward using dual Fire Punches, Orpheus lunged at the Kartana with a Psyshock from Eurydice backing him up. While the Fire Punches were very effective at driving the Kartana back, the following Psyshock didn't seem to do much at all, causing Reina to briefly falter before Mirai finished what Akihito was saying.

"-and Steel-type." There was a mixture of relief and exasperation on Mirai's face from how promptly Kumiko and Reina attacked. Though Orpheus' first strikes had managed to accurately hit the Kartana, the way it darted around in the air afterwards reminded Kumiko she was just lucky that time.

However, Reina had other plans despite coming to the same conclusion as Kumiko. As Eurydice began to create a Shadow Ball on Reina's orders, everyone else present looked on as the spectral orb grew to gigantic proportions. With another command, Eurydice then proceeded to telekinetically split it into many smaller spheres, all orbiting in the place of the original Shadow Ball.

With Reina pointing her finger forwards, all the mini-Shadow Balls hovering above Eurydice bombarded the Kartana. Confused as to what her girlfriend was planning to do, it wasn't until Kumiko saw the Kartana being constantly pelted no matter where it went that she realized Reina was literally carpet-bombing their opponent, steadily whittling down the Kartana's stamina.

Once the barrage was over, the Kartana simply fell on the floor, exhausted from dodging and being hit. Seeing this opportunity, Akihito threw another blue-and-yellow Pokéball at it, resulting in another successful capture.

"Was that really the first time you two fought an Ultra Beast? That was impressive!" Akihito couldn't believe how efficient Kumiko and Reina were when dealing with that Kartana. No wonder the League recommended finding them to help battle the Ultra Beasts.

"No, it's all thanks to the advice you gave us that we managed to defeat it." Kumiko tried to downplay her and Reina's achievement. "But now that we know we're capable of fighting Ultra Beasts, how are Hazuki and Midori doing? I sure hope they're all right, especially considering Hazuki's battling skills."

"Don't worry." Mirai reassured Kumiko. "Hiroomi-senpai and Mitsuki-senpai are some of the best Spirit World Warriors I know, so I can guarantee your friends are in safe hands. Without their help, Akihito and myself would have now been dead several times over, and he can't even die!"

"That's good to know." Reina nodded her head. "As long as we know our friends are all right, we can fight with ease. With more Ultra Beasts that need to be defeated, there is absolutely no time to lose until every single one of them has been captured. Let's continue to press on."


	50. Chapter 50: Kyoukai no Kanata - Part 2

"Hiroomi, please stop." Mitsuki complained for what felt like the umpteenth time. "Your siscon tendencies are starting to creep out the girls who volunteered to fight the Ultra Beasts with us. Give it a rest already."

"But Mitsuki, how will they know you're the best little sister in the world?" Hiroomi replied in a patronizing voice. "After all, there are many girls your age, but the fact that we're related by blood increases the value of our bond with each other."

"Uh… are we supposed to be hunting Ultra Beasts or talk about your relationship with each other here?" Hazuki wondered out loud, confused about the siblings' strange behaviours. "Speaking of which, are we sure that your friends haven't defeated all the Ultra Beasts already? 'Cause we haven't seen any of them since you two defeated the electric-wire Christmas tree light thingy a while ago."

"Hazuki, if Akihito and Mirai already defeated the other Ultra Beasts with Kumiko and Reina's help, then they would have definitely told Hiroomi or Mitsuki about it." Midori answered in that formal way of speaking Hazuki rarely heard her talk in. "Didn't you remember how they told us two Kartana had been neutralized a few minutes beforehand? Don't worry about that too much."

Shortly after they parted with the other group, Hazuki, Midori, and the siblings quickly encountered an Ultra Beast resembling a bunch of black wires with white lights sticking out, which Hiroomi and Mitsuki told them was an Electric-type. Hazuki stayed back from the action following their advice, but she was surprised when Midori joined the fray and helped to fight it.

With a surprising level of skill, Midori ordered her Pokémon to act as distractions for Hiroomi and Mitsuki, having them either create barriers or dodge out of the way when she saw incoming attacks. By splitting up the Ultra Beast's attention, this provided ample opportunity for Hiroomi and Mitsuki to repeatedly bombard it with their Pokémon's own attacks, wearing it down to the point where it could be captured.

Once the Ultra Beast was safely in that blue-and-yellow Pokéball which Hazuki and Midori saw earlier, Mitsuki decided to explain some more details about what they just did, not wanting the two girls to be left in the dark.

"The Ultra Beast we just fought was a Xurkitree, which is the strongest Pokémon in terms of raw electrical output." Mitsuki told Hazuki and Midori. "However, it's mostly limited to single-target attacks just like most Pokémon, so dividing its focus using your team was the right thing to do back there. Since we usually fight in a team along with Mirai and… Akihito, it would've been an uphill battle for the two of us if it wasn't for your help. Thank you very much."

"No problem!" Midori accepted Mitsuki's gratitude, her tone shifting back to the one Hazuki was more familiar with. "But can I ask just one more question? What were the Pokéballs you used to capture the Ultra Beasts? I haven't seen them before."

"They're Beast Balls, Pokéballs designed with the sole purpose of capturing Ultra Beasts." Mitsuki answered. "Extremely effective when used on Ultra Beasts, but horrible at catching any other Pokémon. We then transfer the Ultra Beasts we've caught to the Aether Foundation in Alola, which helps us to resettle the Ultra Beasts back in their native dimensions."

"Xurkitrees, Beast Balls, Aether Foundations…" Hazuki's head was swirling from all the unfamiliar terms being thrown at her. Just what had she signed up for? "Gah! I'm completely lost here! Is there anyone who can save me?"

Right as Hazuki expressed her feelings of confusion, the group heard the 'thump-thump-thump' sound of heavy footsteps draw nearer, bounding towards them at a quick pace. As everyone prepared to fight whatever was coming, Hazuki felt a pang of guilt for jinxing this encounter. Cursing her rotten luck, she sent out her Pokémon as well, not wanting to drag the others down even further.

With the rustle of a nearby bush, the noise's source sprang out, revealing it to be something which looked unlike anything Hazuki had seen before, and she had seen two other Ultra Beasts already.

The Ultra Beast which appeared in front of them looked like a large red muscular man, with the exception of its four feetless legs, two pairs of insect-like wings on its back, and a Bug-like head complete with sword-like proboscis and two long wiry antennae.

"Get back!" Hiroomi warned, a look of shock and anguish on his face. "That's a Buzzwole, a Bug and Fighting-type Ultra Beast! Normally, Akihito and Mirai are in charge of fighting them since both our Pokémon are Ice-type! This won't be easy for us to handle!

"I've got Pokémon which can-" Midori's offer of help was cut short as Hiroomi and Mitsuki charged ahead, sending out their Pokémon in the process. A Cryogonal appeared beside Hiroomi, while a Frosmoth flew alongside Mitsuki, joining her Poipole Yaki-imo.

"Aurora Veil!" the siblings shouted in unison. Before the Buzzwole could properly meet them in battle, it was quickly stopped by two layers of frigid barriers wrapping around it. Ordering Yaki-imo to attack the restrained Buzzwole, Mitsuki watched as it was repeatedly struck by her Poipole's Poison Jabs and Fury Attacks.

However, Hiroomi then noticed the Buzzwole slowly but surely worming its way out of the binds, taking advantage of their semi-flexible nature to weaken them by struggling out. Warning Mitsuki of the imminent danger, brother and sister leapt away just as the Buzzwole finally broke free of its restraints, violently swatting away Yaki-imo in the process.

"Acrobatics!" Hiroomi called out. Aligning itself horizontally parallel to the ground, his Cryogonal spun like a shield in midair, flying towards the Buzzwole in an arc. Slamming into the Ultra Beast with a grinding noise, Hiroomi's Cryogonal continued to rotate at high speeds as it attacked the Buzzwole, who lunged away from the super-effective move before jumping right back in with a flurry of fists flying out.

Barraged by a torrent of punches, Hiroomi's Cryogonal was unable to defend against whatever the Buzzwole smashed it with, even as Hiroomi commanded it to use Reflect and Acid Armor to reduce the damage. The sheer fury of the rapid-fire fisticuffs from the Ultra Beast sent Hiroomi's Cryogonal flying back, causing it to impact its Trainer and knock both of them out at the same time.

"Big brother!" Mitsuki exclaimed, going over to check on the unconscious Hiroomi and his Cryogonal. As she approached him, the Buzzwole noticed her and pounced forward, seeing a new target to attack.

"Aurora Veil!" she shouted out, with a shimmering barrier appearing in front of her just before she was put into mortal peril. Flying up behind her back, Mitsuki's Frosmoth breathed a chilly sigh of relief upon learning she had been saved in the nick of time.

Bumping head-first into the glowing shield, the Buzzwole let out an angry rumble from deep inside its body as it bounced back in pain. With Yaki-imo returning back to her side, Mitsuki was about to launch a counterattack when the Ultra Beast pushed forward again with a vengeance, landing a series of fast-paced punches on the Aurora Veil as it started to crack bit by bit.

Every other option leaving her, Mitsuki was about to order Yaki-imo to attack again, but the frosty shield shattered shortly before she could do so. Now left completely defenseless, Mitsuki saw both her Frosmoth and Yaki-imo being beaten back before she was knocked unconscious by a casually-swung fist.

"Mr. Hiroomi! Ms. Mitsuki!" Hazuki cried out in worry and fear. The people who were supposed to protect her and Midori had been quickly crushed before her eyes, and they were the experienced ones here. How were they supposed to fight that Ultra Beast without any help? Was this the end for them?

"Hazuki, stand back and look after them." Midori told her friend in a commanding tone, causing Hazuki to instantly follow her orders and check on the siblings. "I didn't want to use this in front of other people, but there's no choice left for us now if we want to survive."

"I can't think of any other way. Please, let me go all-out just this once." She silently added, hoping there wouldn't be any backlash after this. Preparing one of the Pokéballs belonging to her team members, Midori threw it out as Hazuki saw her friend's latest 'capture' being sent out.

Midori had caught her Audino Apaise while Hazuki was on her date, but Hazuki doubted she actually encountered her newest partner in the wild. Despite the reputation Audino had of being extremely well-behaved Pokémon, Apaise seemed to also be well-trained, instantly understanding her Trainer's every order with a smile or nod. Sometimes, she even cooked up delicious meals for them.

However she had got to know Apaise, Hazuki had no idea why Midori had chosen her to fight that Buzzwole. With such a tender and kind look on her face, Hazuki strongly doubted Apaise was even capable of hurting a tiny Joltik., but she nevertheless trusted her friend's decision.

"Mega Evolve!" Midori shouted, taking out something from her bag. Almost instantly, a light emanated from whatever she was holding in her hand and a bracelet wrapped around Apaise's tail, causing Hazuki to squint and stare downwards due to the glare being projected. A moment later, she looked up again to see that Apaise had changed.

Not only had she grown larger and taller, but Apaise's now completely cream-colored body was covered by a white 'coat' with soft pink edges, a tuft of fur resembling her tail holding it together. The pink area of her head had turned white and her pink-tipped ears were raised, giving the impression of angelic wings. Her feet had also undergone the same transformation, being coated in white fur as well.

"Amazing…" Hazuki breathed out. While she remembered Kumiko doing something similar with her Ampharos in the Contest earlier today (the Contest had happened today?), seeing her friend's Pokémon Mega Evolve was an entirely new experience for her.

Despite travelling with Midori for her entire journey, there were still many questions about her friend which Hazuki wanted answers to, with Apaise's capture and Midori somehow being able to Mega Evolve her being two more on the list. While Hazuki was certain Midori really was a kind person at heart, she still felt there was much more she hadn't learnt about her friend yet.

"Dazzling Gleam!" Midori called out. Sweeping her right arm outward, Apaise launched a shower of sparkles at the Buzzwole, blowing the Ultra Beast away even as it charged at breakneck speed towards her. Seemingly enraged by how easily it had been knocked back, the Buzzwole paused for a moment as its muscles bulked up, giving it the extra strength necessary to strike at Midori with increased speed.

Standing firm, Midori knew this was the perfect opportunity for a counterattack. Even with the danger approaching her and Apaise, Midori still let the Buzzwole get closer, and shouted a single word. "Yawn!"

Right before a single punch landed on Apaise, she let out a yawn in what seemed like the most anticlimactic way to meet an opponent in battle. Stopping in its tracks, the Buzzwole was dumbfounded by the meaning behind Apaise's foreign gesture, shortly before collapsing in drowsiness as it realized it was a trap.

"The supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting." Midori quoted as she went over to confirm whether or not the Buzzwole had really fallen asleep. Considering she knew very little about Ultra Beasts before encountering them today, finding out they could fall asleep was a relief for Midori. At least this was a shared commonality between these unknown creatures and common Pokémon.

Sending out the rest of her Pokémon, Midori then let them freely attack the sleeping Buzzwole. While she could've sent all of them out to fight alongside Apaise in the first place, Midori had relegated using brute force to her backup plan, wanting to see if her gambit had any chance of working. After all, Apaise's additional Fairy-type during Mega Evolution meant she could tank a few hits against Fighting-type moves. There was nothing to worry about.

Once the Buzzwole had been considerably weakened through a hailfire of attacks courtesy of Midori's Pokémon, she looked over at Hazuki and asked her for a favour. "Hazuki, could you please get a Beast Ball from either Hiroomi or Mitsuki for me? We need to capture this Buzzwole."

"Uh, sure!" Hazuki noticed that even when they were alone, Midori hadn't stopped speaking in her 'serious' tone of voice, which meant this formal way of speaking was how her friend actually sounded. Rummaging in Hiroomi's pockets, she then found one of those blue-and-yellow Pokéballs as Hiroomi let out a 'Mitsuki' in his comatose state.

Running over to give Midori the Beast Ball, Hazuki saw Apaise helping Midori's other Pokémon with healing moves, before heading over to where Hiroomi and Mitsuki were and began tending to them. As Hazuki handed the Beast Ball she held to Midori, questions about what she just witnessed swam through her head, crashing on a dead end until she couldn't take it anymore.

"How did you manage to Mega Evolve Apaise?" she blurted out while Midori waited for the Buzzwole to be successfully captured. "It's only been two days since you caught her, and yet you somehow managed to do the same thing Kumiko needed a while to master with Apaise."

"Well, there are several conditions which need to be fulfilled before a Trainer can Mega Evolve their Pokémon." Midori replied as she concealed some of the details, not wanting Hazuki to ask even more questions. "But the main factor is that the Trainer needs a Key Stone, while their Pokémon needs a Mega Stone corresponding to their species. Since I've got a spare Key Stone and Audinite at home, I was able to get them brought here and Mega Evolve Apaise."

"Oh, so it just so happens you've got what it takes to Mega Evolve your newest Pokémon lying at home." Hazuki wasn't the type of person who would get suspicious of other people easily, but everything she knew and everything Midori told her still didn't add up. "And while we're on it, is there anything you haven't told me about Apaise yet? She's more experienced than your average wild Pokémon at battling and serving us. Is that why you're able to Mega Evolve her that quickly?"

Midori took a deep breath and sighed. "Hazuki. I'm sorry. To be blunt with you, there's a lot of things I haven't told you about myself. Even though I'm still the same Sapphire Kawashima you've known for a long time, I've had to hide who I really am underneath the bubbly and energetic façade of 'Midori'. This was to keep you and everyone we've met safe, but there's no way I can conceal all this from you after what I've just done."

"Sa… Sapphire." Hazuki called out her friend's real name in shock. After seeing Midori abandon all pretense of simply being a cute girl to help fight off the Ultra Beasts, only now did Hazuki realize the true extent of how much Midori had been keeping from her.

"Hazuki, please. Just call me Midori, like you always have. Nothing's changed between us, right?" Despite sounding as formal as when the entire incident began, Midori seemed to be pleading with her now. Holding absolutely no baggage or resentment towards her friend, Hazuki laughed at her without a care.

"Of course nothing's changed! We're still friends, and we always will be!" she enthusiastically replied. "But there's one thing I want from you. No more secrets between us, alright? I'm starting to get tired of being in the dark next to the person who's been travelling with me across the region."

"Alright then." Midori agreed with Hazuki's request. "Since you're my friend, I trust you enough to tell you everything about myself. Why I'm travelling with you in the first place, and what my goals really are. As someone who's been through thick and thin with me, I owe that to you."

As Midori prepared to speak from her heart, a quick tap from Apaise reminded her there were still other things she had to deal with. Looking at where Hiroomi and Mitsuki were, it was clear that even Apaise's healing abilities and medical knowledge weren't enough to help them recover from the Buzzwole's blows.

"Hazuki, let's go find somewhere safe first, then we can talk." Midori told her friend. "Since we don't know if any Ultra Beasts remain, we've got to get Hiroomi and Mitsuki proper help. It may seem cowardly of us to quit midway of such an important task, but I'm not sure a repeat of what I pulled off there is even possible. I just hope that Akihito, Mirai, Kumiko, and Reina can pick up where we left off."

With a silent nod of approval from Hazuki, the two girls departed the scene with their unconscious companions, not knowing their exit here would drive them even further away from their friends.

* * *

"Kumiko, the way your Gallade fought there was quite basic." Mirai commented. "His swordfighting technique is good enough for a Pokémon who wasn't trained, but there's a more efficient way of using sword-related moves in battle."

"What do you mean by that?" Kumiko asked, brushing some dust off her shirt. "Since Orpheus literally has swords for arms, isn't using sword-related moves already the most effective way for him to fight?"

"Yes, but not quite." Mirai clarified, pushing up her red-rimmed glasses. "You see, all sword-related moves are just elemental versions of Slash, which technically makes them one move. For Pokémon which use swords or have sword-like appendages, this also extends to punches and other moves which involve physical contact, such as Fire Punch or Dual Chop."

"I see. This could be very useful for us." Kumiko was now interested by what Mirai was suggesting. "If I remember correctly, all of Orpheus' move slots are currently occupied by sword-related moves, so he should get a lot more options in battle if he learns how to do this."

"That's what I was thinking about." Mirai was happy how Kumiko had so readily agreed with her proposal. "Since there aren't any Ultra Beasts around right now, why don't you try this out with him right here? I can help you two with it."

"Thanks, Mirai! Then we'll be in your care." Sending out Orpheus, Kumiko Mega Evolved him under Mirai's watchful eye, hoping the increased power this gave him would make this process easier. With his sword-arms now lengthened from the process and ready to go, Mirai then gave Kumiko and Orpheus their first set of instructions.

"Have your Gallade try and visualize something related to the element of the move you want him to use!" After Kumiko heard what Mirai said, she then racked her brain for a possible move/mental image combo Orpheus would understand. Thinking back to their experiences together, Kumiko settled on her choice.

"Orpheus, try and remember what it was like being hit by that Spinarak in our battle at the Bug-type Gym!" Kumiko called out. Closing his eyes, memories of the Gym Leader's Spinarak attacking him with Bug Bite flashed through his mind, and he repeated that thought over and over until he could picture it clearly.

"Next, channel that feeling into your swords!" Mirai addressed Orpheus directly. Heightening his sense of awareness around his arms, Orpheus could feel an unfamiliar type of energy coursing through them, this new sensation resembling the Bug Bite he had been on the receiving end of. Opening his eyes again, Orpheus saw a light green aura coat around his arms, the color of Bug-type moves.

"Finally, attack!" Following Mirai's singular command, it was now time for Kumiko and Orpheus to show off the fruits of their labour. With the bond of Mega Evolution linking Trainer and Pokémon together, the power Orpheus harnessed flowed through Kumiko as well, giving her a pre-eminent glimpse of what would come.

"X-Scissor!" Acting as one, Kumiko's shout was more a heralding call for Orpheus' move than an order, light green blades flying out of his arms into the air. Cutting through multiple trees in one go, Kumiko was thankful there weren't any buildings in the area, or else that attack would have caused even more destruction amidst the Ultra Beasts' rampage.

"That was impressive!" Seeing Kumiko and her Gallade pick up this technique, Mirai couldn't help but remember her own experiences practicing this trick with her Aegislash Chi. While they mastered this simple move rather quickly, the fact that Kumiko and her Gallade were able to do it in a single try gave Mirai a surprise. "This normally takes a few tries to get it right. How did you two get the hang of it so fast? Was it because you used Mega Evolution?"

Recollections of her two battles at the Perto City Gym burst through Kumiko's mind like a flood sweeping through a dam, but she steeled herself enough to not be overwhelmed by all the trauma those events brought. "Orpheus and myself have been through a lot involving Bug-types together, so I think that's why X-Scissor was easy to use for us."

"Good to hear." Now it was Mirai's turn to be intrigued by what Kumiko mentioned. When she first learnt about this technique, Mirai didn't have a lot of experience in battling, so she had to invent ways for Chi to understand the feelings behind the type of each move. Hearing that Kumiko used the memories she and her Gallade shared to make this process smoother was certainly something Mirai would keep in mind.

As Kumiko continued to experiment with sword-related moves of different types alongside Orpheus, Reina went over to her girlfriend's side, wanting to check up and tell her what was going on. "Akihito's trying to contact Hazuki and Midori's group, but they haven't responded so far. He's confident enough they'll pull through no matter what happens, so he said we should focus on defeating the Ultra Beasts first."

"Yeah, but we haven't run into any for a while now." Having not seen any Ultra Beasts in the area even after a few patrols back and forth, the lack of action was the only reason Kumiko and Reina's group were even able to take a break in such a hectic situation. Other than helping people get out or clearing rubble away, it was all quiet on the western front. "Orpheus, Poison Jab!"

"If the area Hazuki and Midori's group was searching suddenly had an influx of Ultra Beasts, then they would definitely tell us." Reina deducted, but a nagging feeling made her doubt what she was thinking. "Otherwise, there's definitely still some Ultra Beasts near us, which is the far more disturbing possibility."

"Why?" While Kumiko had some idea of the reasons Reina might consider the most likely chain of events the most dangerous one, her girlfriend's thought processes were far beyond what she could possibly comprehend. It made much more sense to just ask her directly. "Now try a Night Slash!"

"For starters, the Ultra Beasts may be scoping us-" Reina's eyes widened upon seeing what was approaching Orpheus, Kumiko and her. "Kumiko, get out of the way!"

Barely scampering away in time with Reina, Kumiko fell on the gravel-covered alongside her girlfriend as they dodged the blur rushing at them in a panic, feeling the crunch of her body on the small stones. However, Orpheus wasn't so lucky, and found himself being swatted to the ground by a stray attack from what Kumiko presumed was another Ultra Beast.

Recalling Orpheus in a hurry after sensing the pain he was in, Kumiko sent out the rest of her team when she saw Reina do so, preparing to fight the Ultra Beast. As her eyes dashed around the area trying to figure out where it was heading, some words from Akihito caused Kumiko to strongly reconsider her decision.

"Don't bother using any Pokémon other than your fastest to fight!" he called out, before going over to Mirai's side and giving her support. "The Ultra Beasts we're fighting are Pheromosa, which are Bug and Fighting-types. They're the fastest ones out there, but can be defeated even with just a few hits!"

As the Ultra Beast slowed down to lock onto new targets, Kumiko understood what Akihito meant as she got a glimpse of it. Having a slim white body, the Pheromosa's long legs tipped in two golden claws made up nearly half of its height, with spindly arms ending in similar claws reaching down to its kneecaps. Its flat head rested on a short but thin neck, with two purple eyes below a golden 'crown', on which dangled two wiry antennae nearly touching the floor. Two 'wings' came out from the back of its head, their length and thickness making them seem like a single cape.

"That's… a really beautiful Ultra Beast." Kumiko commented, somehow entranced by this alien Pokémon. However, a quick tap from Reina reminded her they weren't supposed to be admiring the eldritch Pokémon, but to be defeating it and prevent more destruction from its rampage.

Heeding Akihito's advice, Kumiko recalled all her Pokémon except Marcato, who looked at her in confusion as he saw his teammates disappear from his side. After Reina did the same, the only Pokémon now left on the battlefield were himself, Idina, and the Pheromosa.

As the two sides stared each other down, Kumiko knew she needed to put her plan into action quickly. Otherwise, any advantage Marcato had against the Ultra Beast would be completely non-existent. Hoping Marcato would understand what she meant, Kumiko gave her order.

"Use Sunny Day, but don't fire it out!" Thinking back to what she accidentally discovered in her battle with Mamiko, Kumiko decided using the speed boost given by a combination of Marcato's ability and the focused Sunny Day was the best way to fight off the speedy Ultra Beast.

Gathering energy in the pink flowers on his head, Marcato began to form two spheres of light which slowly turned green as he charged them further. Once the orbs were saturated with an emerald tint, both of them 'shattered' as Marcato's entire body was covered in the same verdant glow.

"Good job, Marcato! Now, use Wood Hammer!" Kumiko called out. The ominous creaking noise accompanying Marcato's actions in this state returned as he crouched down to prepare himself. Springing forward a moment later, all Kumiko saw was a green blur as Marcato rushed to attack the Pheromosa, causing a gust of wind in his wake.

If that Pheromosa had been a normal Pokémon, there would have been no way for it to dodge the speedy cactus of destruction known as Marcato. However, the Ultra Beast's bizarre physiology made such impossible feats a reality, and it simply moved aside to avoid Marcato's incoming attack.

Undeterred by his initial strike missing, Marcato now felt empowered by all the extra power this technique gave him. While he had only seen Mega Evolution and never underwent it before, he speculated this newfound strength was the closest thing to it. Changing directions in a split second, Marcato then continued pursuing the Pheromosa, surprised to find how well he was handling himself despite the bursts of accelerations.

This game of Meowth-and-Pikachu between Marcato and the Pheromosa continued as Reina tried to locate an opening for Idina to attack, but the sheer speed the other two Pokémon were moving at made this nearly impossible for her. Looking at Kumiko, Reina saw that her girlfriend also had the same focused and determined expression she previously had herself, intently concentrating on the battle at hand.

About to say something, Reina's words froze in her mouth before they could come out, and she simply chose to silently stare at Kumiko as her girlfriend continued to observe the battle. Realizing she had now been demoted to a support role in this fight, Reina decided to play the part using her next command for Idina.

"Thunder Wave, arpeggio!" Reina ordered. Staggering multiple attacks of paralyzing electrical pulses, Idina shot them around the area while attempting to avoid hitting Marcato with them. With the battle's frenetic pace, the least Reina could do to help Kumiko was give her a slight advantage in the speed department, though none of Idina's blasts connected in the end.

From a casual observation using the naked eye, the fight looked like it could swing both ways, both Marcato and the Pheromosa moving at high speeds as they attacked and evaded each other in a chaotic melee. Upon closer inspection, the notion of a stalemate was quickly disproved, with Marcato slowly being exhausted from moving at unnatural speeds, causing him to gradually decelerate over time.

No such limitation applied to his opponent, which gave the Pheromosa ample opportunity to focus on Marcato and get in a blow when he was exposed. Patiently waiting for that moment, the Pheromosa weaved its way around Marcato's comparatively sluggish attacks until it spotted its chance.

Kicking Marcato in his midsection, Kumiko could only watch as he was slammed back into a nearby tree trunk, the green aura around his body disappearing when he collapsed and fell unconscious shortly after. As Reina processed this dire situation together with her girlfriend, an idea emerged in her mind about how to defeat the Pheromosa.

"Fire an Ice Beam at Marcato's direction!" Confused by her Trainer's order, Idina nonetheless followed it, believing Reina had a reason for doing so. While Idina fired the frigid attack, Kumiko also wondered what purpose it served as she prepared to recall Marcato, hoping her girlfriend wouldn't suddenly freeze him.

Just as Kumiko raised her hand holding Marcato's Pokéball to recover him, the familiar blur of the Pheromosa rushed in to land a decisive blow, not knowing Marcato had already fainted. A small smile appearing on her face, Reina knew the Pheromosa had fallen into her trap.

Focusing completely on its target, the Pheromosa paid completely no attention to its surroundings, leaving it completely vulnerable towards Idina's Ice Beam, which knocked it backwards. While Pheromosa's Fighting type meant it wouldn't be hurt that much by an Ice-type attack on paper, its paper-thin defenses betrayed that notion, allowing even the simplest moves to deal significant damage.

Crashing into the same tree trunk as Marcato right after Kumiko finished recalling him, the couple looked at each other as they went over to see if the Pheromosa had been defeated. Seeing no reaction from the Ultra Beast, Reina was about to ask Akihito for a Beast Ball for capturing it when she realized he and Mirai weren't there anymore.

As Reina and Kumiko looked around, they couldn't see any sign of the other couple, which meant they were most likely continuing to deal with the other Pheromosa. No other option available for them, Reina took out a Pokéball from her bag, hoping it could still capture the Ultra Beast. After all, Akihito had only mentioned that Beast Balls were specialized for catching Ultra Beasts, not that they were the only Pokéballs which could contain them.

With a silent nod from Kumiko, Reina tapped the Pokéball she held to the Pheromosa and sat it down on the ground, hoping this crazy plan of hers would work out. Even if this first try failed, she could still attempt this until she ran out of Pokéballs, while Kumiko and she would have enough Pokémon to restrain the Ultra Beast if that didn't succeed.

Watching the Pokéball wobble with Kumiko, Reina saw it move once, twice, and thrice, her heartbeat growing louder with each successive movement. Closing her eyes after the last shake, a cathartic 'click' resounded in her ears as she opened her eyelids to see the Pheromosa successfully captured.

"Wow… I can't believe that actually worked. It worked!" Kumiko looked at Reina with a satisfied smile, pleased her girlfriend's idea had borne fruit. After picking up the Pokéball, only one course of action flowed through Reina's mind as she embraced Kumiko, the lovers celebrating their shared success with a tender hug.

Locked in their mutual display of affection, neither Kumiko nor Reina noticed the multiple footsteps approaching their direction until one person broke the warm silence between them.

"Huh, I can't believe that's actually possible." The tomboyish voice of a young woman interrupted Kumiko and Reina's private moment. "Capturing an Ultra Beast with a regular Pokéball? Looks like we don't have to purchase a boatload of Beast Balls from the Aether Foundation anymore! All the more money for better equipment!"

"That's true, but we still have to find out if this is a unique occurrence or something which can be repeated in different scenarios." Another young woman's demurrer voice replied, seeming displeased with the first young woman. For some reason, Kumiko thought it sounded familiar. "Since we don't have much time or resources to test this out, I suggest we still go through with the purchase as an insurance policy."

"With that matter of capturing Ultra Beasts settled, let us turn our attention to the more pressing matter at hand." A third young woman's voice suggested. This time, both Kumiko and Reina knew they had definitely heard it before. "We need to deal with Miss Oumae and Miss Kousaka here."

Turning around when they heard their names, Kumiko and Reina came face to face with Ritsu, Mio, and Mugi.

* * *

A/N: Apologies for being unable to write a proper chapter for you, Kumiko, but Happy Birthday! (one day in advance) As for your present, how about a private meeting with three members of a world-famous rock band...?

As a side note, Mirai teaching Kumiko and Orpheus the secret of using sword-related moves was the first reason I decided to write this mini-crossover in the first place. Since I wanted to make Orpheus more 'fun' to write during battle by having him use different elemental blades, this was the best way I could think of to do that and give him a power-up. It's kind of crazy to think how well everything I've planned and wrote later on worked perfectly with this seemingly random idea I thought of almost a year ago.

Of course, you'll have to stay tuned to see what I mean...


	51. Chapter 51: Ro-mio and Ju-ritsu

"What in the…" Kumiko was left completely speechless upon seeing three members of HTT suddenly appear behind her and Reina. After abruptly being roped in to help fight the Ultra Beasts tormenting this town, their journey had suddenly taken yet another unexpected turn.

"Excuse me, but what business do you have here?" Reina enquired, her voice seething with a passive-aggressive tone at HTT's sudden intrusion. "If you're planning to involve us in one of your absurd schemes again, please keep in mind both Kumiko and I have completely no interest in whatever you're planning."

"We're not here for you now, so you don't have to worry about that." Ritsu 'reassured' Reina, but what she said next seemed to imply something contradictory. "Though since we've found both of you in one place, it may be better to switch things up a bit. What do you say, Mio?"

"Ritsu, no. Just no." The sternness in Mio's voice was slightly undercut with a sense of chiding, which Kumiko found slightly absurd in this scenario. "We can't just up and move things in our plan like that. There's a reason Sawa-chan-sensei arranged everything in that order, so we've got to follow her plan to the letter."

"I agree with Mio. We've still got some more things to find out before we can put that phase into motion." Mugi added, then turned to Kumiko and Reina. "To answer your questions from earlier, we're here because we detected an Ultra Wormhole in the area. It's important to what we're doing, so we decided to look into what was happening and collect data for our future plans."

"Let me guess." Reina retorted, her hands clutching onto Kumiko even more tightly to protect her from any harm. "By future plans, you mean capturing the Ultra Beasts somehow, since you just noted how we caught one with a regular Pokéball. The only way Ultra Beasts can appear is from a wormhole, so you either know the location of a wormhole or have a method of creating one to catch Ultra Beasts from."

"Bwah! How did you know all that? Are you a Psychic or something?" Ritsu was taken aback by how easily Reina had figured out what their next step was. "At this rate, we'll have to keep track of you two and make sure you don't mess with our stuff! You know too much!"

"Ritsu, calm down." Mio addressed her fiancée, reminding her they still had a mission to accomplish. "We can't help it now that information about Sawa-chan-sensei's plan got leaked out. For the time being, the only thing we can do is hope this setback doesn't derail our goal that much. There's still some time before we put that part into action, so there's nothing to fret about at all."

"Speaking of what we came here for," Mugi interrupted Mio and Ritsu's heartfelt conversation with each other, tapping a strange device she held in both her hands. "Our investigation into the Ultra Beasts and their wormholes still needs to be completed. We need to hurry along before all traces of them disappear, so we have no time to spare here."

As the girls of HTT began to depart, an uneasy feeling began to wash over Kumiko. Remembering how quickly Marcato and Orpheus had been defeated by a single Pheromosa just a few moments before, seeing HTT deal with a serious threat like the Ultra Beasts as casually as an after-school teatime session made Kumiko genuinely concerned about their well-being. This was no light and fluffy matter.

"Wait!" She shouted out, her panicked voice reaching the ears of all three HTT members. Turning to look at Kumiko, they wondered what she was so hung up about. Was it because her concert ticket still hadn't been refunded yet?

"The Ultra Beasts are really dangerous, and we don't know how many are still out there wrecking the town!" Kumiko candidly poured her thoughts out, not even caring about whether or not what she said still remained true. "From someone who's just barely fought off two of them, please don't go jumping in like that! They're not ordinary Pokémon you can defeat in a straightforward battle! You're risking a lot here!"

Upon hearing Kumiko's desperate plea, Ritsu got aggravated. "Yeah, so what? We'll do anything to achieve our goals as a band! As long as all of us can smile together at the end of everything, HTT will head to the ends of the earth hand-in-hand to face anything standing in our way! No matter how much we have to go through, nothing can stop our combined dreams from coming true!"

"She may be a complete idiot at times, but I've got to agree with Ritsu here. We're strong enough to power through thick and thin with each other by our side." Mio looked at both her friends and took out a Pokéball, a calm yet determined smile on her face. "Mugi, get going with your data collection here first. I'm going to hold down Miss Oumae and Miss Kousaka here to make sure they don't interfere with our plans."

"Mio's insults hurt, but they don't hurt as much as people telling us not to get one step closer to our dreams." Ritsu added, taking out a Pokéball of her own. "I'll make sure that you regret what just came out of your mouth there, Oumae. Prepare for a thrashing, 'cause Mio and me will give you a bashing!"

Seeing Mio and Ritsu's declaration of battle, Kumiko and Reina were more concerned about Mugi heading off on her own and quite possibly facing the Ultra Beasts by herself. However, any attempt at discouraging her from this course of action was blocked by the two girls resolutely standing in front of them, refusing to budge an inch from their current position.

"Gigalith/Golem, let's rock!" Mio and Ritsu cried out in unison, throwing out their Pokéballs. Now realizing HTT's threats were deadly serious, Kumiko and Reina had no choice but to respond in kind, sending out their own Pokémon in the hopes of getting a chance to bring Mugi back.

"Dance the waltz, Trip/Handel!" Sending out their most healthy Pokémon, Kumiko and Reina decided to not hold back in this battle against HTT. While pursuing your dreams was certainly important, doing so at the risk of yourself would only decrease your chances of succeeding. No matter what HTT's end goal was, Kumiko and Reina wanted to see them accomplish it without putting themselves in danger.

"Stone Edge!" With a combined command from Mio and Ritsu, their two Pokémon summoned a swarm of sharp rocks around their bodies before firing them in Trip and Handel's direction. Needing to get past their opponents as soon as possible, Kumiko and Reina decided the best way to get that done was to go on the offensive.

"Trip, use Dragon Rush!/Handel, use Scald!" Rather than avoid or block those incoming attacks, Kumiko and Reina decided to respond in kind, wanting to end this fight as soon as possible to get Mugi back.

Blitzing past the myriad of flying stones headed his way, Trip slammed into the Gigalith with all his strength, sending it toppling back despite its larger size. Any remaining rocks were dealt with by Handel, who used his Scald's water pressure to stop them in their tracks. Due to the direction he fired his attack in, his Scald also had the added bonus of being able to hit the Golem, dealing super-effective damage.

"Now, use Heavy Slam!" With another coordinated command from Mio and Ritsu, their Gigalith and Golem quickly shrugged off the damage they received before leaping into the air. Since Heavy Slam was a move which hit harder the greater the user's weight was in comparison to their target's, this meant the much heavier Gigalith and Golem would be able to deal a lot of damage if this hit either Trip or Handel.

For Kumiko and Reina, telling their Pokémon to dodge wasn't an option with how large their opponents were and their ability to change their angle of descent in midair, so they decided to go for the more direct option of attacking instead. This battle needed to end quickly, or else they wouldn't have a chance of finding Mugi.

"Aqua Tail!/Dragon Rush again!" While he was using the same move as before, Trip leapt into the air this time, colliding with the Golem as it pushed down on him with the assistance of gravity. Even though Trip was nearly pushed to the edge of his consciousness with that impact, Handel's previous super-effective Scald had already shaved off most of the Golem's health, meaning Trip's attack could knock it out.

Meanwhile, Handel had flicked his tail up to block the incoming Gigalith, the serpentine appendage glowing a bright blue. Trying to resist the pressure of a giant Rock-type Pokémon crushing down on him, Handel nonetheless managed to push back, sending it crashing down with a loud 'THUD!' and leaving it unconscious.

With Mio and Ritsu's Pokémon defeated, Kumiko and Reina were free to pursue Mugi as their opponents prepared to swap out their Pokémon. Heading past the bewildered band members, Kumiko and Reina then realized they didn't know where to go, or there were still any Ultra Beasts left in the town.

"Should we look for Akihito and Mirai first?" Kumiko asked Reina, hoping her girlfriend had something in mind for how they could find Mugi. "There's still a chance some of the Ultra Beasts haven't been captured yet, so we maybe could team up with them to finish off the Ultra Beasts before moving on to find Mugi."

"That's a solid idea, but it increases the likelihood Miss Kotobuki comes into contact with an Ultra Beast first." Reina replied, giving her own thoughts on the matter. "We don't know how good she is at battling, but if her strength is equal to her bandmates, then there's little possibility of her surviving an encounter."

Navigating through the town's wrecked streets, Kumiko and Reina looked everywhere for any trace of Mugi, hoping to find her before anything unfortunate happened. However, their search was proving to be fruitless with each ruined block they passed, absolutely no sound aside from the pitter-patter of their footsteps echoing across the desolate landscape.

"Are we even sure that Mugi's here?" Kumiko was starting to doubt this plan of theirs, glancing back to see if they had missed anything. "As far as we know, she could have already left and reunited with her friends."

"That's definitely possible, but there are so many unknowns clashing together that it's hard to keep track of everything happening right now." Reina admitted. "With the Ultra Beasts on the loose, where Akihito and Mirai are, the location of Hazuki and Midori's group, and HTT's sudden appearance, it's better to be safe than sorry in this scenario where nothing is certain for us."

Continuing to hear and see nothing so far, Kumiko and Reina decided to stop searching this area and head to the eastern side of town, which was where Hazuki and Midori's group went. Seeing as they couldn't do anything here and their friends hadn't made contact with them in a while, this was the most reasonable decision for Kumiko and Reina to make.

Walking past the building where they had been rescued by Akihito and Mirai's group, this point marked the unofficial division between east and west, meaning Kumiko and Reina had reached the area they were going to search next. By the look of things, not much Ultra Beast activity had happened here between now and when they first left, with the buildings and their surroundings remaining intact.

As they ventured further into the eastern zone, Kumiko noticed that the Pokémon Center where they had taken refuge previously had been completely abandoned, most likely due to the people inside having been evacuated somewhere safer. Past that was the auditorium where the Contest Spectacular had been held earlier today, with a massive gash on its roof being the telltale sign that an Ultra Beast attacked it.

"I think there aren't Ultra Beasts roaming around anymore." Reina hypothesized, prompting Kumiko to get closer as she laid out her reasons why. "If there were still some wreaking havoc out there, then we'd definitely hear their sounds in somewhere this quiet."

Pondering Reina's words, Kumiko wondered whether or not her girlfriend's deduction was accurate when she heard footsteps approaching them from behind. With so many possibilities of who or what they could belong to, Kumiko turned around to see one of the worst possible options barreling towards them.

"Crunch!" A Tyranitar and Aggron leapt at Kumiko and Reina with their open maws glowing with Dark-type energy, with Mio and Ritsu following along behind them. No time for them to think of any strategy, Kumiko and Reina sent out Sparkle and Demi, with Kumiko Mega Evolving Sparkle once her feet hit the ground.

"Thunderbolt/Dazzling Gleam!" Firing out ranged attacks, Sparkle and Demi managed to increase the distance between their opponents and themselves, knocking the Tyranitar and Aggron off-balance. This bought some time for Kumiko and Reina to get a bit further, but Mio and Ritsu soon caught up.

"You won't get away this time! Stone Edge!" In the heat of the moment, it was hard to determine whether Mio or Ritsu was speaking to them, and there was little reason to care. Still, Kumiko and Reina ducked behind a building with their Pokémon, using its concrete walls to shield them from the incoming attack.

As a wave of sharp rocks burst through the sturdy defense, Kumiko and Reina then ordered Sparkle and Demi to blast their moves through that hole, hoping their opponents were still in that position. Hearing a 'BOOM!' from the other side, the couple took this as a signal to continue moving.

Racing through the town while trying to avoid their pursuers, Kumiko and Reina knew that they needed a strategy fast if Mugi was to be found without any other unwanted complications happening. Her mind searching for a way out of this situation, Reina hit upon an answer as she looked around her surroundings.

"Kumiko, let's head to the top of that communications tower!" Reina pointed at the building which caught her eye. "It's most likely the highest building in this town, so we should get a good view of everything from up there!"

"Got it!" Telling Sparkle and Demi to attack once more to prevent Mio and Ritsu from getting any closer, Kumiko and Reina changed the direction they were going in, turning towards the tall tower. Once they reached the entrance, the couple disregarded the lift and climbed up the service stairs leading to the observation deck, constantly looking behind their backs to make sure Mio and Ritsu hadn't caught up.

Finally reaching their destination, Kumiko and Reina immediately pressed themselves against the glass separating them from the elements, scanning the town below them for any sign of Mugi. While the panoramic view was certainly spectacular, something else caught Reina's eye in the moment, and it was far more troubling.

"Kumiko, look over there." Reina addressed her girlfriend with a tinge of panic in her voice. Scooting over to where Reina was from across the observation deck, Kumiko's cheek rubbed against Reina's as she saw what worried her girlfriend. While she couldn't make out the finer details, there was no mistaking its bizarre form for anything other than an Ultra Beast.

Resembling a faceless Jellicent, the unknown Ultra Beast silently glided across the long street it was currently located in, occasionally stopping for a moment before resuming its motion. Realizing its levitation was the reason why Reina and she couldn't hear anything in the first place, Kumiko continued to stare at it in a strange sense of wonder as she processed that disturbing fact.

Shifting her eyes a bit upwards after having her fill of wonder, Kumiko then saw Akihito and Mirai in hot pursuit, running across town to hunt down the Ultra Beast. Gazing down to see where the road headed, dread started to fill Kumiko's chest cavity when she saw it led directly towards the communications tower, stopping at that very same entrance Reina and she entered from. However, even that worry of hers paled in comparison to what happened next.

About to discuss with Reina what they were to do next, the sickening sound of metal being crushed reached Kumiko's ears a split second before she felt the floor beneath her tilt, knocking Reina and her off-balance. Stumbling as they tried to regain their footing, Kumiko and Reina found their bodies pressed against the glass again, allowing them to see just what had caused the tower to fall.

"Sorry about that! We'll pay you back sometime later!" Ritsu called out from below, causing Kumiko and Reina to be shocked at how quickly HTT found them. Aside from her and Mio standing at the tower's base, their Pokémon were also present, chomping away at the metal lattice which made up its structure. "But for now, we've got a stomping to give out!"

"Great! Now how are we supposed to get out of here?" Turning to Reina, Kumiko soon got her answer when a flurry of Stone Edge rocks flew in from a nearby window, shattering the glass and creating a draft. Cautiously scampering over, Kumiko momentarily wondered if they could climb out of this opening before Reina came up with a better solution.

"Why don't we just have our Pokémon fire attacks out of the window?" she suggested. "Contrary to popular belief, jumping out of a glass-covered opening is never a good option, since it only leads to a person getting cut all over their body. Remaining where we are and trying to knock out our opponents from a distance is the much safer option here."

Sending out Sparkle and Demi again, Kumiko and Reina started to trade blows with Mio and Ritsu for the second time. While Reina knew this fight was mainly to distract them from finding Mugi, it still gave her some time to think about actually making an escape from the increasingly unstable tower.

With the staircase they came up completely inaccessible and the elevator nigh-impossible to use, the glass-covered opening was starting to become a more and more attractive option. Her internal debate on how to leave going absolutely nowhere, Reina decided to focus on the battle instead, hoping an answer would show itself to them sometime soon.

A big breakthrough occurred when Mio and Ritsu's Pokémon seemed to be distracted by something, heading forward rather than continuing to attack Sparkle and Demi. Seizing this opportunity, Kumiko and Reina then ordered Sparkle and Demi to blast at them from behind with everything they had, wanting to finish this quickly. One powerful strike later, their opponents' Tyranitar and Aggron were down for the count.

Her mind now free to ponder on how they would exit, Reina then felt a sense of uneasiness spiking inside of her before she heard the familiar sound of metal creaking again. Knowing what would happen before it actually did, Reina instinctively reached for Kumiko's hand right as the floor shifted for the second time.

The surface beneath them becoming more and more vertical by the second, Reina tightened her grasp on Kumiko's hand as she tried to find a place to cling onto with her free hand. Barely dodging a falling magazine rack, Reina then realized what Mio and Ritsu had done.

Rather than attack Kumiko and her outright, the two girls of HTT had opted to cut the proverbial knot instead. By ordering their Pokémon to avoid direct combat and strike at the tower instead, they had prevented Kumiko and Reina from easily getting out and pursuing Mugi.

Seething at the teeth at how simple yet brilliant Mio and Ritsu's plan was, Reina decided to channel her energy into finding a way out. Managing to grasp onto a sturdy metal handlebar after some searching, Kumiko soon joined her girlfriend as they held on for dear life.

"What are we supposed to do now?" Kumiko asked, tucking Sparkle's Pokéball back after recalling her. "We can't just keep hanging here forever, right? The tower's going to collapse any moment, and my hands are starting to get tired here!"

Reina was about to offer a complete lack of an answer when she saw something far more alarming come up through the original window hole. Silently floating in the air without Kumiko and Reina noticing its presence, the white Ultra Beast they saw earlier rose like a demon from the depths, its body turning ominously to face their direction.

The top of its hat-like 'head' was transparent except for markings of white six-pointed stars encircling it, while the opaque 'brim' was completely white except for a wavy blue rim. Several long tentacles flowed out from behind it, with the middle two resembling a pair of legs. The four shorter ones in front looked like sideburns and arms, giving the disturbing visual image of a young girl.

Stricken with panic, the adrenaline from being completely helpless in front of yet another Ultra Beast strangely helped Kumiko and Reina cope with the situation better, their hands filled with enough strength from the shock to continue gripping tightly. The lovers' fear grew as the Ultra Beast drifted ever closer, but they knew the other was still by their side in the moment.

Preparing to meet whatever fate awaited them, Kumiko and Reina closed their eyes as they accepted their inevitable destiny, finding solace in each other's comfort with nowhere left to go. Thankfully for them, this was not the day they were arranged to meet their maker.

Aside from the dreadful silence accompanying the Ultra Beast's unnerving glide, Kumiko also heard the sound of footsteps banging against metal as she opened her eyes, wondering what threat they would need to face next. However, what awaited them wasn't any sort of foe, but two friendly and familiar faces.

"Iron Head!" Mirai called out as she leapt up from the broken window. Slashing at the Ultra Beast with her Aegislash, she then landed in an impossibly graceful manner as the Ultra Beast was knocked back, slamming into the 'wall' which was formerly the floor.

"Chandelure, use Psychic!" Kumiko heard Akihito shout. Instead of emerging through the window's hole like Mirai did, only his Chandelure floated up before launching a blast of energy at the Ultra Beast. Taking a deep breath and looking down, Kumiko saw that Akihito was currently holding on to the tower's weakening trusses like a ladder, providing support from below.

With the combined damage from Akihito and Mirai's attacks, the Ultra Beast was quickly defeated with little trouble. Running over to where the Ultra Beast was in a way that made it look like she was weightless, Mirai threw a Beast Ball at it, waiting until a successful capture before turning to look at Kumiko and Reina.

"How did you two end up here?" she asked in abject confusion as Akihito finally made his way up. "And speaking of which, how did this tower get bent out of shape? Was your fight with that Pheromosa earlier on rougher than expected?"

Realizing that any possible answer other than the truth wasn't going to cut it in this scenario, Kumiko and Reina gave Mirai and Akihito a brief summary about HTT, including the band's weird obsession with tracking them down and how they suddenly appeared here.

"That doesn't sound good at all, but I'm sure that it's not going to be much of an issue now." Akihito spoke once Kumiko and Reina finished their story. "With this Ultra Beast being captured, nearly all of them should be accounted for. If those people you just mentioned wanted to do something with the Ultra Beasts, then they're out of luck."

"Speaking of hunting Ultra Beasts, where are Hiroomi and Mitsuki?" Remembering they were on the east side of town, Kumiko suddenly realized she and Reina hadn't bumped into their group while searching this area. "We haven't seen them or our friends at all around here."

"Well, Hiroomi and Mitsuki contacted us right before we got here and said they had been knocked out by an Ultra Beast." Akihito replied, this unexpected answer shocking Kumiko and Reina. "When they woke up, they saw your friends had already left, but they left a note detailing how they managed to escape and get to safety."

"Do they know where our… friends went?" Reina paused for a moment before saying the penultimate word, momentarily unsure if it was the right choice of diction she could use to describe Hazuki and Midori. Nevertheless, she followed Kumiko's lead on that matter.

"I'm afraid not." Akihito shrugged, completely clueless himself. "All I know is that your friend's Pokémon helped heal Hiroomi and Mitsuki up, and that they left to deal with something else more urgent."

"Oh…" Kumiko's voice trailed off upon finding out her premonitions about Hazuki and Midori had come to pass. "At least they should be OK right now. Based on what you said, it seems like they haven't been hurt much."

"We hope so too." Akihito didn't want random people he helped rope into fighting the Ultra Beasts getting hurt. While he could take a lot of injuries thanks to his regenerative abilities, Akihito knew that ordinary people couldn't do that. "By the way, here's something for you two."

Taking out two objects from his pocket, it was immediately obvious to Reina that they were Sun Stones. Having no idea why Akihito would suddenly give them these, Reina looked at hers as Akihito began to explain.

"Depending on how many Ultra Beasts there are, a certain number of stones drop from the wormholes they appear from." Akihito told them. "Each Ultra Beast isn't exactly associated with a type of stone, but Pheromosa and Kartana sightings often correspond with Sun Stones being found. That's why we want you to have them."

"Thank you very much!" Reina bowed in gratitude. While she usually didn't show so much emotion, having the stones she and Kumiko needed to evolve Ai and Mitsuke given to them just like that was an absolute blessing. "We've got Pokémon which can evolve using them, so we're very grateful you gave these Sun Stones to us."

"No problem." Akihito got a bit flustered, not knowing how he should react to Reina's sudden attitude change. "It's the least we can give you for helping us to hunt down the Ultra Beasts. We normally sell the stones once we find them, but using them to evolve your Pokémon is all right as well."

"Uh, shouldn't we get going right now?" Kumiko asked, remembering that Mugi was still on the loose somewhere. "We've got to track down that HTT member and prevent an Ultra Beast from finding her before it's too late."

"We can help you with that." Mirai suggested. "Since you mentioned they're after the Ultra Beasts, we'll most likely find her as we're searching for more of them. Oh, and one last thing. What happened to that Pheromosa you two were fighting? Did it get away?"

"I caught it." Showing the Pheromosa's Pokéball to Akihito and Mirai, Reina recounted the miraculous capture she pulled off. "We didn't have any Beast Balls with us, so I decided to take a leap of faith and try to catch it with a regular Pokéball, which somehow worked. Seeing as we don't know what to do with an Ultra Beast, you can have it."

"Interesting…" Akihito mused as he took the Pokéball from Reina's hand. "We've never tried that before, but I've heard some stories about people in Alola capturing Ultra Beasts with regular Pokéballs. Glad to see that's actually possible."

"But anyways, there's still things we've all got to do." Mirai concluded. "Akihito and myself have got the remaining Ultra Beasts to hunt down, and you two have that band member to find. Since there's a chance we're not going to see each other after splitting up here, I just want to say it's been a pleasure fighting alongside both of you."

Getting back to ground level with Akihito and Mirai's help, Kumiko and Reina bid farewell to the other couple, waving each other off with smiles on their faces. With the matter of Ultra Beasts hopefully being dealt with, Kumiko and Reina were now free to search Mugi before she ever encountered one.

Returning back to the main road Mio and Ritsu had previously chased them off of, Kumiko and Reina continued to walk down their original route, determined to locate Mugi before an Ultra Beast did. As they wove their way through the town, Reina couldn't help but think about everything that happened today. From the Contest to the Ultra Beasts to battling HTT, there was a lot that had gone down right from the moment they woke up.

Rhythmically making their way down the streets in an increasingly familiar manner, Kumiko was starting to think that Mugi wasn't even in town anymore when the inevitable reared its head again. Cursing their rotten luck, Kumiko and Reina prepared to fight with Mio and Ritsu for the third time.

"Alright! You're not getting away this time!" Ritsu declared, with Mio standing by her side trying to strike a cool pose. "No one gets away with insulting us, especially not outsiders like you!"

With these battles seemingly being dragged on forever by Mio and Ritsu's tendency to keep Reina and Kumiko tied up, the latter decided to settle this right here and now. Throwing out Ai and Mitsuke's Pokéballs, the couple decided to try out something new and risky this time, getting more and more impulsive as they got fed up with being delayed.

After sending them out, Kumiko and Reina then reached for the Sun Stones Akihito gave them just mere moments before. While they had only known their newest team members for a few days and never even battled with them before, the couple innately knew Ai and Mitsuke had the potential to match their teammates' strength.

Tossing the evolutionary stones at the Pokémon couple, Reina and Kumiko watched as Ai and Mitsuke's bodies became cloaked in light and changed shape. Once the glow disappeared, Ai and Mitsuke were now a Lilligant and Whimsicott respectively.

Orange spheres were sitting on top of a crown-like yellow ornament, which was in the middle of the white-spotted orange flower resting on Ai's head. Under her head accessory were dark green leaves above light green leaves, resembling lengthy emerald hair stretching down her back. Her face hadn't changed much, but Ai now had leaf-like arms attached to her white body and a green dress with two verdant leaves sticking out from behind, while she now balanced on yellow sepal-shaped feet.

While Ai's body was certainly different compared to before, it was Mitsuke who had undergone the more significant changes. Now gaining an actual brown-colored body with arms and legs, a 'mane' of cotton-like fluff grew out from his head, with a green star-shaped section behind it resembling a stem. Green lobes shaped like horns flanked his face, which was now decorated with a smile coming from his newly obtained mouth.

"Heh. You think that'll stop us? Think again!" Ritsu put on her best impression of a mocking tone, though it didn't sound the least bit intimidating. Taking out a Pokéball, Ritsu then threw it out. "Alright, Keith! Bang your drum!"

With a Rillaboom emerging from Ritsu's Pokéball, Kumiko and Reina were surprised to see that not only was this her first Pokémon which wasn't a Rock-type, but also have a nickname. Following Ritsu's example, Mio threw out her own Pokéball as well. "Elizabeth, let's string them up!"

After a Low-Key Toxtricity came out from the Pokéball Mio threw, it was now time for Kumiko and Reina to settle the score right here and now. Ordering Ai and Mitsuke to use dual Energy Balls right off the bat, the couple knew they had to get the first strike in for a decisive advantage.

"Keith, Drum Beating!" Ritsu called out. Setting down its drum and thwacking it vigorously, her Rillaboom summoned gigantic vines which burst out from the ground, swatting away the Energy Balls.

"Elizabeth, Overdrive!" Mio ordered. Plucking the string-like organs on its chest, her Toxtricity let out a strong vibration around the area, throwing Ai and Mitsuke back. While Kumiko and Reina hoped that trying something unexpected would throw Mio and Ritsu off-guard, this was not going as planned.

This futile back-and-forth between the two sides continued, neither Kumiko and Reina or HTT gaining an advantage over the other for more than a short period of time. Unable to break through this stalemate, Kumiko and Reina were about to switch out Ai and Mitsuke for their more experienced teammates when a certain person came running back to her friends.

"Mugi, what's bothering you? Did everything go as planned on your end?" Mio became worried for her friend when she saw Mugi again, noticing she seemed more anxious than usual. "I hope nothing went wrong with the data collection."

"The data is not what concerns me." Mugi hurriedly replied between gasps and pants, clearly exhausted from whatever she was fleeing from. "I have already obtained everything we need about the Ultra Beasts. What I am more afraid are the people currently coming after us."

As Ritsu was about to ask Mugi what had scared her that much, Kumiko saw the familiar shape of a Tropius swoop down from above before two people jumped down from it. When one of the people recalled the Tropius, Kumiko could see who they were.

"So this is where your friends have been hiding, Miss Kotobuki." Aoi looked at Mio and Ritsu, a look of disapproval in her eyes. "Who knew you would be that foolish to lead us directly to them?"

"But now that you've done our work for us, it's time to finish it!" Asuka continued, her glasses gleaming ominously. "Oumae-chan, Kousaka-chan, thanks for your help in defeating the Ultra Beasts. Now it's our turn to take over."

"Bwah? Asuka-senpai?" With Asuka making her second surprise appearance in two days, Kumiko wasn't sure if there was a tracker on her or something. "Why are you and Aoi here?"

"We came because we couldn't get in touch with our contacts here, so we assumed the worst had happened when fighting the Ultra Beasts." Aoi explained. "After rendezvousing with them here, we learnt the Ultra Beasts had already been dealt with, and you two were chasing HTT."

"Since we're pursuing them as well, this seemed like the perfect opportunity to take HTT down. Imagine our surprise when we found three of their five band members here!" Asuka concluded. "Anyways, you two are free to go wherever you want now. Take care and bon voyage!"

With Aoi and Asuka sending out their Pokémon to fight, Kumiko and Reina took that as a signal to recall their own before leaving the scene, knowing that the Elite Four could and would take down HTT here. However, this atmosphere of optimism was not echoed from across the battlefield.

"Ritsu, take this back to Sawa-chan-sensei and tell her to start preparing Plan 20-Love." Mugi thrust the data recording device into Ritsu's hands as she took out a Pokéball. "Mio and I will try our best to hold off the Elite Four here, but contact Yui and Azusa just in case."

"Mugi…" Ritsu trembled at the thought of leaving her friends alone here, but she really had no choice but to retreat if their plan would be successful. "Alright then, leave this to me! I'll make sure this gets back safe and sound!"

While Ritsu's declaration was certainly one made in confidence, Kumiko and Reina unfortunately did not get the chance to hear it. Making a run for it after Asuka gave them her assurance everything would work out fine, the couple had no destination in mind, only going where the other took them.

This day had been eventful by any measure. but what happened a few short days later would make it seem like an afterthought in both Kumiko and Reina's minds.


	52. Chapter 52: Eine Kleine Nachtmusik

Finally stopping at a nearby Pokémon Center after running for what seemed like forever, Kumiko and Reina felt the refreshing chill of an air-conditioned breeze blow directly at their faces as they stepped into the building. For the exhausted couple, nothing beat this sensation of pure bliss.

"That really was intense, wasn't it?" Reina asked her girlfriend as they plopped down on the nearest couch, surprising other people sitting nearby with their semi-exaggerated actions. "I'm so tired I can barely walk."

"Yeah. Me too." Kumiko replied, her voice muffled as she laid down face-first in a cushion. "I really hope we left that all behind at Termezzo Town. If one more person comes out of nowhere and bothers us, I'll punch their face in and take off with you. I'm so done after everything that's happened to us today."

"Let's see." Reina closed her eyes in deep thought, recounting all the events she and Kumiko had been thrust into since they woke up this morning. "We participated in the Contest Spectacular, got roped into fighting the Ultra Beasts, met and battled HTT, AND got saved by two of the Elite Four. If that's not too much to handle for a single day, I don't know what is."

"I swear, we've been bombarded by thing after thing non-stop ever since our journey began." Kumiko ranted at no one in particular, though Reina's ears were always there to receive her words. "It's like we've been chosen by fate to fulfill our destinies or something, like those stories I've read before. Can whoever's in charge of our lives give us a break please?"

"Kumiko, don't be ridiculous." Reina chided, giggling at how ridiculous her girlfriend could be at times. "No such thing as fate exists in this world. As human beings, we forge our own destinies with our bare hands. That's what makes us special."

"Alright, alright. I get your point." Too tired to argue, Kumiko had no choice but to agree with her girlfriend. "If you want to do something relaxing, then feel free to do that. I'm always happy to follow your lead, and nobody's restricting what we can do except ourselves."

"Now there's another problem." Reina noted, stroking her chin using her hand. "Since we're always being thrown into events non-stop, I've never thought about what to do if I've got some spare time to myself. I mean, I can always play my trumpet if I'm bored, but I want to do something different together with you."

Hearing herself being mentioned in Reina's words, Kumiko couldn't help but think about how important she was to her girlfriend. For as long as she had known Reina, Kumiko only saw her as this solitary and imposing figure, standing all by herself on a frosty mountaintop away and above everyone else. To Kumiko, Reina mentioning them together in a single breath was proof their bond was unbreakable now.

However, thoughts of a much different nature were coursing through Reina's mind. Racking her brain on what she could do together with Kumiko, Reina was completely at a loss for ideas. At one point, she even thought that they could go skinny-dipping at a nearby lake together, but she then remembered swimming at night was extremely dangerous even for experienced athletes.

Seeing a look of distress starting to form on her girlfriend's face, Kumiko shuffled closer to Reina as their warmth enveloped each other. Unable to resist the temptation of Kumiko's fluffy hair, Reina ran her fingers through it as her girlfriend sighed in delight, enjoying the sensation of Reina's fingers touching her scalp. For some reason, Reina thought that the texture of Kumiko's hair felt like strands of spaghetti.

It was at this moment where Reina's stomach chose to loudly growl, reminding both Kumiko and her that they didn't stop for lunch today with everything going on. As Kumiko was about to suggest grabbing dinner, an idea suddenly came to life in Reina's mind, her actions becoming more re-animated as she outlined it for Kumiko.

"Why don't we try and cook our own dinner tonight?" Reina's mind almost came to a halt as she realized what she just said. Though this train of thought was spurred by her most recent thoughts about foodstuffs, it also brought back memories of one thing Reina wasn't good at: cooking.

Thinking back to how she was utterly sidelined whenever Kumiko cooked with someone else they met on their journey, whether that be Natsuki and Yuuko or Hazuki and Midori, Reina thought that was going to be an extremely bad idea for her. Internally panicking about what she was going to do, it wasn't until Kumiko replied that Reina saw a ray of hope.

"That's a good idea, Reina!" Kumiko practically leapt out of her seat upon hearing what her girlfriend just proposed. "We've been eating restaurant and cafeteria food for so long, I've almost forgot what a proper home-cooked meal tastes like!"

"But I don't know how to…" Uncharacteristically for her, Reina's embarrassment at her weakness leaked out like water from a defective sieve as a pale blush crept up on her face. While seeing her girlfriend admit her own flaws in front of her was a rare sight for Kumiko to behold, she didn't hold that fact against Reina at all.

"Don't worry. I can teach you how." Kumiko offered. She wasn't an excellent chef by any definition, but she felt her cooking skills were decent enough to give Reina an impromptu lesson. "I actually used to suck at cooking, but everything gets easier the more you do it. Just like music, practice makes perfect!"

"I see. Then I'll be in your care from now on." Reassured by her girlfriend's kind words, Reina felt confident they could overcome this challenge together as a couple. "Where do we start from here, sensei? Do we need to sharpen our knives first?"

"No, obviously not. We aren't professionals." Kumiko laughed at Reina's suggestion, though it reminded her of the massive problems they faced. "But we've got three things to deal with right now: we don't have ingredients, we don't have a place to cook, and we don't have utensils."

"So we can't cook?" Feeling disappointed at how her suggestion turned out to be moot, Reina was about to think of something else to do with Kumiko when she noticed what a sign on the wall said.

"Hold on. There's a communal kitchen here. We could use that." With one of Kumiko's concerns now out of the way, Reina then thought of a way to knock out the remaining two with one stone. "And going to a supermarket would allow us to get the ingredients and utensils we need to cook."

"But since we're in the middle of nowhere, there wouldn't be any supermarkets nearby." Kumiko realized. "We could go back to Termezzo Town, but I'm not sure if any supermarkets would still be open after everything that happened there."

"I know! Why don't we Teleport to another city and shop at a supermarket there?" Reina exclaimed upon thinking of a solution. "With our Pokémon, we aren't restricted by where we can go."

"Hmm… fair enough." Kumiko was pleased her girlfriend found a way to make sure their cooking session could go as planned. "Then we should go to Minant City. Since it's the biggest city in the region, there's definitely going to be a lot of supermarkets we can choose from."

"Agreed." Reina replied as she prepared to send out Eurydice, but then she thought of something. "Shouldn't we cook for our Pokémon too? I'm interested in seeing how they react to our cooking."

"I'm all for that, but cooking for so many mouths really limits what we can make." Kumiko replied, racking her brain for options. Thinking of a dish which could easily be made in large portions, she then settled on a simple answer. "How about we make curry? It's not challenging to cook at all, though we'd need a really large pot if we're also cooking for our Pokémon."

"That's settled then." Reina declared, sending out Eurydice after hearing Kumiko's suggestion. "With everything decided, let's make haste and head to Minant City. After what we've gone through today, I can't wait to have a good hand-cooked meal together with you."

* * *

Appearing on the familiar streets of Minant City an instant later, Kumiko and Reina then began combing the area for a supermarket they could shop at. While the city certainly offered a lot of options thanks to how large it was, that same size also made it hard to search for anything in the sprawling labyrinth of roads.

Heading around, Kumiko and Reina bumped into a dead end for what seemed like the umpteenth time in an hour. It then occurred to the couple that instead of wandering around blindly, they could use the map on their phones to find directions to a nearby supermarket. Smacking their heads at this basic blunder, the couple then found one rather quickly, much to their mutual embarrassment.

"What type of curry do you want to make?" Kumiko asked her girlfriend. "Personally, I want to make some boiled Egg curry. Eggs are my favourite, so I can never have enough of them!"

"If you're playing favourites here, then so can I." Reina countered with her own suggestion. "How about we make pasta curry? Since most curry has rice as the main staple, let's try something different for a change."

Exchanging shouts of 'EGG!' and 'PASTA!' as they entered the supermarket, Kumiko and Reina eventually settled on a compromise, deciding to make pasta curry with Egg. Both of them happy with this decision, the couple could finally begin shopping.

Pushing around the shopping cart as they walked through the various aisles, Kumiko took the lead in picking up ingredients, rifling through racks and shelves to find the best stock. As their cart slowly began piling up with the food they needed, Reina decided to take the initiative and began looking around for utensils they could use.

Recalling what Kumiko mentioned earlier about needing a large pot to cook curry for all their Pokémon, Reina's eyes began darting around the supermarket for the cookware her girlfriend needed. Spotting a pot which was about as wide and tall as her lower leg, Reina momentarily left her girlfriend to pick it up, taking an equally large spatula and a smaller pot as well on her way back.

With Kumiko grabbing a set of kitchen knives before she and Reina headed to the checkout counter, she then took one last look at everything in their cart. Finally noticing the giant pot Reina put in, Kumiko was at a loss for words at what her girlfriend had done.

"Reina… what?" Gawking in shock at how her girlfriend found such a big pot, Kumiko couldn't comprehend what drove Reina to make such a drastic decision. "I know I said we needed a large pot to cook curry, but don't you think that's a bit too large?!"

"Uh, I'm sorry?" Unsure how to respond to Kumiko's reaction of shock, the best Reina could offer was an apology for her impulsive decision. "I can put it back if that's what you want."

"Don't worry." Kumiko laughed Reina's concerns away. "I didn't say how large the pot we needed had to be, so it's partly my fault. It's a bit big, but it'll still work nonetheless. Though I think we may have to cook outside now…"

Pondering that thought as Reina paid for their supplies using the money they pooled together, Kumiko stuffed everything they bought inside her bag, not even noticing that all of it shouldn't have fit into its limited space.

Teleporting back to the Pokémon Center they set out from, Kumiko and Reina then went back in and headed to the kitchen. While there were only a few people and Pokémon using it, Kumiko saw that the stoves were far too small to support the pots she and Reina bought. With Reina also noticing this too, the couple decided to heed Kumiko's earlier suggestion and cook outdoors.

Borrowing a table and two tripod stands from the Pokémon Center (Kumiko was surprised these was somehow available options), Kumiko and Reina headed back outside and found a small clearing devoid of any plant matter or other flammables. Setting up the table for use as a cookstation, Kumiko watched as Reina wandered into the woods with some of their Pokémon, off to gather firewood.

Taking out a knife and the cutting board she bought earlier, Kumiko started to peel the onions, potatoes, and carrots they bought before dicing them into identically-sized cubes. While she could have cut them into any shape she wished, Kumiko knew from experience that cubes were the easiest to chew and swallow for both human and Pokémon mouths alike.

Completely focused on preparing the ingredients in front of her, Kumiko almost didn't notice Reina coming back until she heard the sound of something heavy being dragged across the ground. Looking up to see what it was, an expression of complete shock dawned on Kumiko's face upon witnessing Trip and Orpheus help to drag back a massive log.

"Reina… where in the world did you find that?" Almost left speechless at what her girlfriend pulled off, Kumiko wanted a thorough explanation from Reina. "I know I said earlier we need firewood if we want to cook outside, but what are we supposed to do with that absolutely humongous log?"

"This." Reina declared with a smile. Sending out Eurydice, she then ordered her to lift up the log using Psychic. Nodding at Orpheus, he leapt into the air and used his blade-arms to carve the suspended log into many smaller yet pieces of firewood of equal size. Once he was finished, Eurydice dropped them onto the ground.

After he pulled off a three-point landing, Kumiko couldn't help but break into applause along with Reina and Eurydice (Trip sadly didn't have hands he could clap with) at Orpheus' stunt. However, everyone was left standing in complete silence with that all done, unsure of what to do. That lasted until Reina's stomach growled again, causing Kumiko to take the initiative.

"Reina, could you set up the tripods with firewood beneath them and fill the smaller pot with water?" Kumiko asked, recalling the next steps of curry preparation. "Oh, and also get the pasta and Eggs out for me please? We need to boil them."

"I'm on it." Gathering some of the chopped-up firewood, Reina created two small piles underneath the tripods before bringing the smaller pot over. Sending out Idina, Reina then instructed her to fire a Water Pulse directly into it, which instantly filled the metal container up to being three quarters full. Kumiko wondered why she didn't use Handel instead, but then she realized Idina would have better control.

As she finished dicing all the vegetables (Kumiko was mildly shocked at how large the resulting piles were), Kumiko saw that Reina was standing by, waiting to hear what she needed to do next. Chopping the last carrot up, Kumiko then responded to Reina's nonverbal query.

"Next, we've got to boil the water and put the pasta in. Do you have a lighter to start the fire?" Kumiko asked. Seeing Reina shake her head, Kumiko was about to offer her one when her girlfriend sent out Eurydice again. Realizing what she was about to do, Kumiko was thankful she was a short distance away as Eurydice's Mystical Fire easily lit up the pile of wood.

With the firewood bursting into flames, Eurydice then telekinetically levitated the pot of water up onto the tripod, setting it down without so much as a light impact. While Kumiko was watching Reina direct her Pokémon, she realized her girlfriend had forgot to take out the Egg and pasta, both of which they would need to boil.

Taking out those two ingredients herself, Kumiko tore the pasta's plastic packaging open before going over to where Reina was. When the water inside the pot began bubbling and vapour started to rise up, Kumiko poured the pasta in and added a pinch of salt for flavour.

"The pasta's done once it's increased in size, but you've got to stir it with the wooden spatula to make sure it doesn't stick to the side." Kumiko told Reina, wanting her girlfriend to get some basic cooking knowledge out of this. "After that, carefully pour the water out onto the ground without spilling the pasta. Under normal circumstances, we'd use a colander to make things easier, but we don't have one."

"Got it." Having complete faith that Reina understood what she just said, Kumiko returned to preparing the other ingredients they needed. Pouring the giant stacks of diced vegetables into the massive pot Reina bought, Kumiko sighed as she ripped open the first package of instant curry mix out of many and began shaking the paste out. This was going to take a while.

Not being helped at all by how the curry paste seemed to stick on the packaging's sides, Kumiko performed this repetitive set of actions for quite a while before she heard the hissing sound of falling water. Looking up to see Reina draining out boiling water from the pasta pot, Kumiko was pleased that her girlfriend had followed the instructions she laid out.

However, it was clear that not everything was going as planned upon closer inspection. Focusing her attention on Reina's arms and legs, Kumiko saw they were all quaking, most likely a result of her not accustomed to lifting such heavy loads. A thin blue glow was also visible, which Kumiko guessed was from Eurydice trying to help her Trainer bear the weight. Still, Kumiko couldn't help but be proud of her girlfriend's unwavering determination.

Eventually, every last bit of hot water had been poured out, meaning Kumiko and Reina could now move on to the next steps: boiling the Egg and cooking the curry. Before that, Kumiko first dumped all the pasta out from the pot onto a large plate, and placed it back onto its tripod along with the other pot, which contained the curry vegetable mix.

Going over a second time to get the Egg, Kumiko plopped it into the former boiling pot and requested Reina for some help. "Could you tell Idina to fill this up with the same amount of water as last time and the curry pot with about half that?"

"I'd be glad to." Calling Idina over, Reina then relayed Kumiko's instructions to her, which she dutifully obeyed. After both pots were filled with the necessary amount of water, Kumiko then placed them one after the other onto the tripods, then noticed the previously lit fire underneath the one holding the pasta pot had burnt out.

"Reina, can you have Eurydice light the fires underneath the tripods?" Kumiko asked her girlfriend again. "I'll get some firewood to refuel the fire we boiled the pasta over, so you light the other one first."

Nodding at Kumiko, Reina then told Eurydice what to do, and she caused the wood underneath the curry pot to burst into flame with a wave of her hand. Embers also started to flare below the Egg pot once Kumiko returned with the necessary firewood, meaning the final steps of the couple's cooking journey were now under way.

As Kumiko stirred the curry with the wooden spatula and Reina watched the boiled Egg pot, the monotony of these actions started to get at them. Wanting something more interesting to do in the meantime, Kumiko started up a conversation with her girlfriend.

"So, where should we head next?" Kumiko began, trying to break the silence between them with a simple question. "Are we heading to the nearest Gym we haven't challenged yet, or trying something else this time? Though I haven't thought of anything interesting…"

"We should head to the next Gym." Reina suggested. "It's in Ubmedi City, which is quite close to this Pokémon Center. The Gym Leader there specializes in Electric types, so we'd better prepare some Ground and Grass-type counters before we start our challenge."

"Alright, then we'll set out first thing tomorrow morning." Kumiko replied in earnest, then a sudden thought struck her. With the next Gym they were going to being the sixth they would face, Kumiko wasn't sure what she and Reina were going to do next once they defeated all eight.

"Do you have any plans once we've finally got all the Gym Badges?" Kumiko tentatively asked, but she innately knew Reina almost certainly had grander ambitions than simply stopping there. "With how you are at heart, you'd definitely want to go even further beyond."

"I'm thinking of challenging the Elite Four and the Champion one day." Reina bluntly replied, completely confident in her aspirations. "Many Trainers do say that's their end goal, but a fair amount of them give up after being defeated by two or even one member of the Elite Four. Of course, that will never be me. I'll rise to the top, no matter how long it takes."

"Whatever you choose to do, I'll always be with you. No matter what we go through, we'll face it together." Kumiko boldly declared to Reina, who looked on with a glare of both intense passion and admiration. It was then that she realized her hand hadn't moved at all these past few moments.

Since her hand was carrying the wooden spatula, this meant the curry mix in the pot began sticking at the sides. Letting out a frantic "BWAHHH!" upon seeing the results of her mistake start to take hold, Kumiko began quickly stirring the curry to heat it evenly as Reina watched on in delight, amused by her girlfriend's antics.

However, observing Kumiko meant that Reina had taken her eyes off the boiled Egg she was supposed to be watching. Too captivated by her girlfriend's beauty, Reina nearly forgot about the other thing she needed to observe, only snapping back to reality when she heard audible bubbling coming from the water in the pot.

With Kumiko and Reina's attention now fully focused on their original tasks again, there wasn't any time for small talk as they finished up what they needed to do. Seeing the Egg fully sink down after a few minutes, Reina lifted the pot it was in on Kumiko's command and drained the water out. At the same time, Kumiko set the curry pot on the table, careful not to lose her balance or spill anything.

"Could you have Idina extinguish the fire?" Kumiko asked, and Reina soon answered with her actions, telling Idina to fire a wide-range Water Pulse at the fires. The attack dousing both piles of wood at the same time with its larger than usual size, 'tidying up' here marked the end of actually cooking food.

Putting away the tripods and disposing of the burnt firewood, Kumiko then went back to the table and took out the boiled Egg from its pot, carefully peeling off its shell before slicing it into equally-sized chunks, matching the number of mouths currently waiting to eat.

Now that all of the meal's components were fully prepared, it was time to combine and serve them as one complete dish. Taking out the small supply of paper plates she bought, Kumiko began to plate the curry, choosing to focus on getting each component onto every plate first before moving on to the next component for maximum efficiency. This method was much faster than finishing up each portion individually.

Initially piling up pasta onto all the plates, Kumiko added a scoop of curry on top next, followed by a single chunk of Egg to complete the dish. Even though this approach was really repetitive, doing it like this was the most effective way to plate a large number of dishes quickly.

With the plates of curry set out and ready to eat, Kumiko glanced at Reina before they sent out all their Pokémon, who looked around in abject confusion while awaiting orders from their Trainers. Except for the sweet scent of curry tickling their noses (at least for those who had noses), none of them knew what to expect from all this until Kumiko began speaking.

"OK, everyone. Since we've all gone through a lot today, Reina and I have decided to treat you all with some home-made curry!" Kumiko announced, gesturing towards the dishes she plated and arranged earlier. "Everyone gets one dish, but refills are available if you still feel hungry. Today's been really intense from start to finish, so make sure to treat yourselves!"

Hearing cries of joy from all of their Pokémon at the good news, Kumiko and Reina swiftly passed out a plate of curry to each of them. Looking at their meal in eager anticipation before happily digging in, Kumiko and Reina's Pokémon were soon followed by their Trainers, who sat down on the ground and enjoyed their dinner.

As she was chewing at her piece of Egg, Kumiko was then struck by a realization about her favourite food. Feeling uneasy about the disturbing implications this would bring, she decided to share her thoughts with Reina.

"If Pokémon are eating Eggs, would that be considered cannibalism?" she asked, getting the weight off her chest. "Since Eggs are just unborn Pokémon, does that mean our Pokémon are basically eating their babies?"

"Obviously not. That's just silly." Reina chided her girlfriend for this completely ridiculous assumption. "While the Eggs we're eating are almost identical to Pokémon Eggs in shape and size, they're harvested from the Egg pouches of Chansey and Blissey. They're only made up of nutritious protein matter, so our Pokémon fortunately aren't eating their own kind."

"Thank goodness. I was about to tell everyone to stop eating right there." Kumiko breathed out a sigh of relief, wondering why she hadn't thought more about what she ate sooner. "But that just made me think about something even worse: are Pokémon killed for the meat we eat? Did my burger the other day have a family?"

"Kumiko, relax." Reina assured her girlfriend, who looked like she was on the verge of a nervous breakdown. "The meat we eat isn't from the bodies of dead Pokémon. That barbaric practice has been outlawed for a long time, so our meat comes from artificially cultivated samples of Pokémon tissue. Simply put, we're eating lab-grown meat."

"Huh, I never really wondered much about that." Kumiko concluded, now being able to shovel a spoonful of curry in her mouth guilt-free. "I guess I just took what I ate for granted all along. Speaking of which, let me have some of yours!"

Stabbing her plastic fork in the direction of a stray piece of Reina's Egg, Reina responded by twirling her own fork and stealing a sizable clump of Kumiko's pasta. With their faces now in each other's as a result of their mutual entanglement, Kumiko and Reina then went all the way in for an impromptu make-out session, not even caring one bit about their mouths smelling like curry and egg.

However, Kumiko then started to worry about the other couple present as her eyes darted over to Ai and Mitsuke, who were currently sharing their curry much like Reina and herself. Remembering how she and Reina basically forced them to evolve in their battle against Mio and Ritsu, Kumiko couldn't help but feel bad for not asking their permission before doing so.

"Should we apologize to Ai and Mitsuke for suddenly evolving them?" The moral dilemma nagging at her conscience, the least Kumiko could do was speak her mind to Reina. "I don't really know why, but it felt wrong to just throw our Sun Stones at them without any sort of heads-up."

"Kumiko, someone's life was possibly at stake back then, so we needed every advantage if we wanted to save them." Reina countered, but she also did feel uneasy about ignoring their Pokémon's free will. "Still, I think we should at least explain the circumstances behind our choice to Ai and Mitsuke, so that they understand why we made that decision."

With a nod of agreement from Kumiko, the couple finished the last of their curry before going to where Ai and Mitsuke were. Kneeling down in front of their Pokémon, Kumiko started talking to them about what happened today.

"Ai, Mitsuke, sorry for suddenly evolving you two during that battle earlier on." Kumiko began, eliciting a look of confusion from both of them. "We know we did it without asking for your permission or if you really wanted to first, but evolving you two was the only thing we could do in the moment."

"The battle we were fighting was against people who didn't want us to find their friend." Reina elaborated further. "You see, that town was filled with dangerous wild Pokémon, and their friend had wandered off by herself, so we wanted to bring her back before anything happened. Unfortunately, our opponents wanted to buy time for her, which meant we were stuck battling them for quite a while."

"We thought evolving you two could help us to break that deadlock, so we did it without thinking through our decision at all." Kumiko concluded. "Since there's no way to reverse the process of evolution, the only thing we can do now is hope that you two are comfortable with it. If not, then we're terribly sorry for forcing both of you to go through that."

Staring at their Trainers in silence before glancing at each other, it was Ai who took the first step forward, waddling over and touching Reina's hand with her own leafy arms to show her acceptance of Reina's decision. Mitsuke followed shortly after, placing both his tiny hands onto Kumiko's own as well before smiling up at her.

"Thank… you." Kumiko fondly looked at Mitsuke in response. While she hadn't expected him to act this way, seeing both him and Ai understand why she and Reina made that choice brought a much-needed feeling of relief to Kumiko's troubled mind. Reaching out further, Mitsuke widened his eyes in surprise as Kumiko hugged him, finding a sense of solace in his fluffy coat of wool.

Unfortunately, this tender moment between Trainer and Pokémon did not last long. With something tugging at the hem of her shirt, Kumiko turned her head to see Trip gnawing at its fabric. Having completely no idea why he would suddenly do that, Kumiko looked further to see not only had Trip already finished his portion of curry, but also ate the leftovers of those who weren't that hungry and even devoured his paper plate as well.

"Oh, Trip. You never change, do you? Come on, let's get you some more curry." Petting him on the head, Kumiko then led Trip over to the table where the curry and pasta were, getting him a new paper plate and making a second portion for him.

As she scooped up the curry, Kumiko was thankful that her Pokémon and Reina always remained by her side, be it through good or bad. No matter what she went through during the day, they would never leave or be angry at her, instead welcoming her back with open arms every time.

She hoped every day could be like this, always.

* * *

After the previous night's delicious curry dinner and a well-deserved rest, Kumiko and Reina were back on the road first thing next morning, heading towards Ubmedi City for their next Gym battle.

When they arrived several hours later, it was already well into the afternoon. Wanting some more downtime in this relatively sleepy city after yesterday's hectic events, the couple decided to postpone their Gym challenge until tomorrow. With Reina abruptly heading off to the bathroom in a hurry, Kumiko was left all alone sitting on a bench when someone tapped her on the shoulder.

Turning around to see who it was, Kumiko could only let out a singular "GEH" as Shuichi's familiar face stared down at her. Unable to process anything else due to completely being caught off-guard by his sudden reappearance, Kumiko unconsciously handed control over the conversation to Shuichi.

"Hey, Kumiko." he began. "It's been quite a while since we last met, so we've got a lot to catch up on, eh?"

* * *

A/N: A quick apology to Kaori for not having a birthday chapter ready for her, due to forgetting it and other personal reasons.

Fun fact: The curry Kumiko and Reina cook in this chapter is a hybrid of two curries from Pokémon Sword and Shield, namely the Boiled Egg Curry and Pasta Curry.

Also, you thought it was going to be a Gym Battle next chapter, but it was Shuichi!


	53. Chapter 53: Danse Macabre

As much as Reina would've liked an uneventful trip to the bathroom, she couldn't just ignore what she was seeing.

Retracing her steps back to the Pokémon Center she walked past earlier, Reina carried her stomach in her hands as she lamented the situation she was caught in. The churnings and pulsings she felt down there were unstoppable, forcing her to leave Kumiko all alone so suddenly. Reina suspected this was because of the curry she ate yesterday night, but had no way to prove her hypothesis.

Whatever the reason for her tummy troubles, Reina hoped to quickly get them over with and return back to Kumiko's side. Though it was what she did the most aside from battling ever since they hooked up, spending time with her girlfriend was always the highlight of Reina's day. No matter what she went through, having Kumiko by her side made everything better in an instant.

As Reina navigated through Ubmedi City's quiet streets, she soon found herself confused by the unfamiliar roads. While she had complete trust in her memory and recall skills, Reina realized that she didn't have a clear enough mental image of this city to work off on for accurate directions, seeing as it was her first time here.

Grumbling to herself, Reina now had no choice but to dig through her bag for her phone. From her Pokémon's Pokéballs to various decorative accessories she carried around with her, Reina could feel the sensation of multiple objects colliding with her hand while rummaging through the mess known as her bag.

Finally fishing it out after a moment of frantic searching, Reina then rapidly opened the map app and located where the Pokémon Center was. Relieved that she only had a few more blocks to go, Reina dutifully followed the directions she received as she hurried to her destination, wanting the pain she felt in her stomach to end.

Reaching the Pokémon Center at last, Reina was nearly out of breath from exerting herself that much in such a short amount of time. Reina considered herself to be quite fit, but her stamina could never catch up with what she demanded from her body. One more thing to work on in pursuit of her goals.

About to enter the Pokémon Center and get rid of her most pressing problem, Reina then noticed a nearby bush rustling around erratically. Though she initially dismissed it as a wild Pokémon tussling around in there, Reina became more suspicious about what was going on when she heard the clicking and clacking of a keyboard coming from said bush. Forget the bathroom, this was more interesting.

Heading over to the plant, Reina then peered over to see an oddly-dressed young woman furiously typing away at a laptop with a Xatu right next to her. Wearing a red kunoichi outfit with black highlights, the woman also had glasses with the same rim color, which were framing dark magenta eyes and short chestnut-coloured hair. As a nodachi long-sword was strapped on her back, Reina wondered if the woman's get-up was some form of cosplay.

"...And that should be it. Calibration is now complete." the bespectacled young woman muttered to herself, her Xatu nodding its head in affirmation. Closing her laptop and sighing in satisfaction, the woman was about to stand up when she turned around and saw Reina. Her eyes widening in shock, it took a moment for the woman to process who she was seeing, even as Reina looked on in confusion at her strange reaction.

"Gah! You're not supposed to be here! Where did you come from?" the woman yelled in surprise. Despite having completely no idea who she was, Reina guessed that the reverse wasn't true for the young woman. At this rate, Reina wouldn't be surprised if the woman was from the League. Everyone who worked there seemed to have some strange habits, and Reina guessed that her cosplay was yet another example.

"Excuse me, do I know you?" Reina asked tentatively. Seeing as the woman had just finished doing something extremely intense on her laptop, Reina didn't want to shock her even more by bombarding her with questions. For all she knew, the woman could have been working on something that concerned the safety of the entire region.

"Uhh, no. Of course not. You certainly don't know me." Even as she rapidly waved her hands around in the air, the woman's suspiciously specific denial didn't convince Reina. "After all, I'm just a random passerby who suddenly realized she had to do something really important, so here I am. There's nothing to see here. Nothing at all."

"I knew it. You're working for the League, aren't you? You don't have to hide it like that." Upon hearing Reina's bold assumption, the woman's face blanched in panic. The League was exactly the last group of people the woman wanted to meet right now, and hearing that casual remark put her on edge. If she said something wrong here, then everything would come tumbling down in an instant.

"The League? No, I'm not associated with them at all! Rather, I'm the general administrator of a private organization." Pushing up her glasses, the young woman calmed herself down enough to get a hold of her scattered thoughts and formulate an out from this situation. Seeing as she couldn't downright lie here, the woman reasoned the best way to obfuscate what she was really doing was to tell a partial truth.

"I see. So you're a random passerby who's also the general administrator of a private organization? That's an interesting combination if I ever saw one." The young woman's sudden pivot made it even more clear to Reina she was lying about her true identity, but Reina intuitively sensed a morsel of reality behind what she just said.

"Uh, yes. Seeing you here threw me for a loop, so I was a bit shocked back there. I didn't expect anyone to notice me behind the bush. Sorry about that." Hastily apologizing, the young woman hoped this would alleviate any further suspicions. Noting the sincerity behind her words, Reina accepted them and dropped her guard down a little. Now she could get down to the main question at hand.

"Going back on track, you seemed like you recognized me from somewhere. Do I look like someone you know, or have you seen me before?" With how the woman acted strangely upon seeing her, there was definitely more to this story than what was immediately apparent to Reina. If the woman did see her before, then that would raise even more questions. Reina hoped that wasn't the case here. She already had too much to deal with.

"Yeah, about that. Actually, one of my friends looks a bit like you, so I thought she suddenly appeared right here. You know, long black hair, fair skin, large… package." Seeing the woman's gaze drop down to her chest, Reina knew what she was implying. A faint tinge of red appearing on her face from that gratuitous comparison, Reina was briefly taken aback, but she continued to press on.

"Now that's a really straightforward answer. If you led off with that, then there would be no need for so much confusion back then." Though she was slightly relieved the woman didn't know her personally, Reina was still on edge after this bizarre turn of events. With how everything was playing out, Reina suspected there was something she hadn't been told yet.

"I must've really shocked you from my initial reaction. If you like, I can have my Xatu tell your future as payment for inconveniencing you so much." the woman offered as her Xatu looked at her in abject confusion. Reina was also left befuddled by this unorthodox deal, but concluded that it was only one more item to add on the list of strange things she had gone through today.

"Alright then. I've got a bit of time here, so I'll take you up on that. Do I have to do anything special for it to work?" Reina asked, hoping that Kumiko wouldn't mind if she took a bit too much time going to the bathroom. Hopefully, she wouldn't run into any trouble while she was alone.

While it was common knowledge that Xatu as a species could see into the future, there were few details on how they actually did it. Even Trainers who had a Xatu rarely did so, reportedly because they were afraid of unintentionally setting a bad future into stone. However, Reina mostly saw those claims as unfounded rumors. After all, she believed a person could shape their own destinies if they were ambitious enough.

"Actually, the process is quite simple." the woman explained. "Since it sees the future through its right eye, all my Xatu has to do is to look at you with its left eye closed. It then transmits what it sees to me via telepathy, though it can be a bit vague with its visions at times to prevent the worst futures from happening. I've done this a few times before, so you can trust me on that."

"Then let's begin." Looking down at the woman's Xatu, Reina saw it close its left eye and begin concentrating. Though it displayed some expressions of shock now and then, the woman's Xatu remained mostly calm throughout the process, as if it had seen what would happen to her many times before. Strangely, the woman didn't react much to what her Xatu showed her, though she sometimes nodded with a smile while her eyes were closed.

Once the woman's Xatu opened its left eye again, the woman opened her own eyes as well. Though she had her own doubts on whether or not the woman would be lying to her, Reina was confident the future would prove itself to be true sooner or later. Even if all this eventually turned out to be a complete scam, at least Reina hadn't lost much of value here aside from her time.

"My Xatu looked two months into the future from now back there, so I'll give you a quick rundown of the major events that will happen during that time. Do keep in mind I'm just approximating from vague visions, which means some things will happen in a completely different way compared to what you're expecting." the woman told Reina, who was slightly relieved she could verify these events in such a short amount of time.

"To start off, a plan of yours will be extremely successful later today, but it will also be taken from you after a few days with it." Reina was already confused even by this initial statement. Outside of spending the rest of the day together with Kumiko, she had no plans which could be achieved today short of a miracle shaking up her life, and she didn't know how or why she would lose it.

"Outside forces are jostling to take control of your life, and sacrifices will be made to keep them from destroying your way forward." There were a few candidates Reina could immediately think of which could fit the criteria of meddlesome outside forces, but none of them actually bore any malice towards her. That made the sacrifice part even more confusing, especially since it wasn't specified who would make them.

"The people who you will come to dislike the most for their actions will play a role in shaping the challenges you need to overcome." With no clue whether or not the people she would hate were the same as the 'outside forces' mentioned previously, Reina decided to treat them as two separate visions unless proven otherwise. The future was always uncertain, doubly so with these vague statements.

"Finally, the price you will pay to become stronger than you ever were is the steepest one yet. Not only will it require great tragedy, but also what you deeply resent if you want to become your ideal self." Reina thought this sounded overly ominous, but reassured herself there was a chance everything she just heard was fake. Still, she would know if this would be true or not at the end of this two month period.

"That's all I got from my Xatu. Any questions?" Now that the woman had finished talking, Reina knew this was the final opportunity she would have to ascertain her doubts. Thinking of a way to confirm or debunk the information she just received, Reina then realized she had the perfect method of doing so by her side all along.

"Can I send out my Gardevoir to telepathically verify your Xatu's visions?" Reina asked. Since Eurydice was also a Psychic-type, Reina thought she could cross-confirm what the woman's Xatu saw with ease. Musing on it for a moment, the woman seemed a bit worried, but ultimately relented.

"Sure, but make sure it only gets a quick glimpse. Having to bear the weight of knowing the future but unable to change it is why Xatu remain quiet most of the time." With the woman's warning, Reina sent out Eurydice and asked her to read the Xatu's mind. As she did so, what Eurydice was feeling was transmitted back to Reina, and both Trainer and Pokémon soon felt the deluge of data from the future overwhelm them.

"STOP!" Reina cried out, and Eurydice quickly broke off the connection she had with the Xatu. Letting Eurydice recover from that trauma, Reina turned to face the woman. "Sorry about that sudden outburst. Both my Gardevoir and I couldn't handle so many things being jammed into our minds at once. Once she recovers, I'll ask her to give me the gist of it."

"That's alright. If I really need to see a detailed breakdown of what happens in the future, then I usually borrow my friends' Alakazam or Gardevoir as well. I hope what your Gardevoir tells you confirms my words." With that, the young woman latched on to her Xatu. "Unfortunately, I need to go now, so I'm afraid I'll have to bid you farewell here, Ms. Kousaka. Oh, and one last thing: that battle you had with my friends back on the stage at Ongaku Stadium really rocked! Give your girlfriend my regards!"

"Wait-" Reina called out, but it was already too late by then as the woman Teleported away with her Xatu. Left with the fact that the woman had known who she was all along and that oddly-specific detail she departed on, Reina was dreading how her mind pieced together the puzzle of what her true identity was rather quickly.

Right as she was about to arrive at an uneasy conclusion, Reina felt Eurydice tap on her shoulder. Turning around, all she saw Eurydice do was give a slow nod before closing her eyes in exhaustion. With the realization that the woman wasn't lying about the future all along, Reina now had a second thing to look out for.

But right now, the most important thing she needed to do now was head to the bathroom. Everything else could wait.

* * *

A/N: Guess who Reina was chatting with! All the clues are there, so you just have to connect the dots! You get a (virtual) cookie if you get it right!

Apologies for the half-length chapter this time around. Though I do have a backlog of chapters, I realized that my personal schedule doesn't match up with the chapters I want to break on, so I wrote this shorter chapter in a single day to sync my chapter release schedule with my personal one. And yes, there will be TWO one-week breaks in the near future. Since there's in-story reasons I've decided to break on those chapters, I'll announce when those breaks will occur when I publish those chapters, so stay tuned for more information!

As a side note, this chapter now hold the record for the most words I've ever written in a single day (2515 to be precise).


	54. Chapter 54: Samba De Loves You

"No one asked you for your opinion, Shuichi." Kumiko was certainly annoyed that Shuichi had shown up unannounced yet again, but suggesting they had a lot to catch up on was clearly hyperbole for the plain-as-vanilla Shuichi. "Besides, what are you doing here? Last time I saw you, you were participating in the Double Battle tournament in Edian City along with your friend."

"Hey, same here." Shuichi countered, noting that a surprisingly long period of time had passed between then and now. "I haven't seen you after battling with you and… (Shuichi shuddered at the mere thought of Reina) her, so I'm also curious as to what you've been up to in that time."

"Nothing much." Kumiko downplayed everything which happened since then, not believing Shuichi would take even half of what she said seriously. "Just travelled more around the region, catching Pokémon and collecting Gym Badges. I've got five of both Pokémon and Gym Badges now, so I'm here to challenge my sixth Gym."

"Oh, same here!" Shuichi noted. "I arrived from Minant City yesterday, where I fought with Miss Mamiko a while back. That battle with your sister really went down to the wire near the end! But enough talking about myself! I want to see just how much you've improved since we last met, so let's have a battle!"

"Are you serious?" Kumiko was incredulous at Shuichi's request. "The first thing you do after asking how I've been is challenge me to a fight? What are you, some sort of battle maniac who doesn't care about anything else at all?"

"Hey! I'm not that sort of person!" Shuichi tried to defend himself. While he certainly wasn't the sort of person to fight everyone who came his way, Kumiko had apparently taken what he said the wrong way. "I've got a life outside of battling, you know! Just two days ago, I went on a date!"

"A date?" Kumiko echoed in shock and confusion. Having known him from a young age, Kumiko never saw Shuichi as the sort of person who could score a date, even putting her sexuality aside. Just what deal did Shuichi make with the devil for this?

"Yeah! In fact, it was with a girl who I met right after the tournament! She's shorter than you, but she's really energetic and upbeat!" Shuichi's tone perked up as he recounted what happened. "For our date, we went to an amusement park near Minant City. We laughed together, screamed together, and had a lot of fun together! After the date, we even promised to keep in touch! It was awesome!"

"An amusement park, huh…" For some reason, that seemed to ring some bells in Kumiko's mind, but she couldn't exactly place that thought. "Well, congratulations. May you find everlasting happiness with your future girlfriend. I'll always root for you."

"Thanks a lot, but now that's out of the way, let's battle!" Shuichi jabbed a finger in Kumiko's direction. "Kumiko Oumae, I, Shuichi Tsukamoto, challenge you to a battle! No items! Five Pokémon only! Final destination… uh, where are we supposed to be fighting anyways?"

"I'd have thought you already found somewhere we could fight beforehand." Kumiko facepalmed upon realizing how underprepared Shuichi was. "But seeing as you look like you're staking your entire life on this one battle, I'll help you find a place. I don't people to think I'm hanging around with some sort of weirdo."

Amidst Shuichi's protests, Kumiko dragged him around the area looking for a battlefield until she found one situated in a nearby park. Since she could see where she previously sat from there, Kumiko reasoned that Reina would still be able to find her here. With that matter dealt with, Kumiko could fully focus on fighting Shuichi.

"Alright! I'll be using one of my newest partners. Fighter, I choose you!" Tossing out his Pokéball, the Pokémon which Shuichi sent out was revealed to be a Riolu. Surprised by how he managed to catch such an uncommon Pokémon, Kumiko couldn't resist but ask him about the circumstances behind his capture (and bash him about the horribly bland and unimaginative nickname he thought up).

"Where did you find a Riolu? They're quite rare in Octiva." Kumiko noted. "And for the record, why are you so bad at giving nicknames to your Pokémon? 'Fighter' sounds so bland for a Pokémon like Riolu or Lucario. At least think of better choices before actually making your decision! Your Pokémon will thank you for it."

"What's so bad about the name 'Fighter'?" Shuichi retorted, slightly butthurt about the fact that Kumiko had trashed his Pokémon's nicknames again. "It's short, snappy, and to the point! Exactly what you'd want from a nickname! Anyways, Fighter decided to tag along with me after he saw me training with my Pokémon. Since he wants to get stronger, he decided the best way to do that was to come along with me."

"I don't have the heart to tell him that's a really bad choice." Kumiko murmured under her breath, knowing Shuichi would be too focused on other things to care about what she said. Clearing her throat, she directly addressed Shuichi again. "Then I'll respond in kind with my own rookie team member. On the count of three: let's go, Trip!"

Now it was Shuichi's turn to be intrigued upon seeing one of Kumiko's team members he previously hadn't before. "A Deino? Where did you get one of those? Forget Riolu being rare here, Deino are almost unheard of in Octiva! Did one drop out of the sky just for you?"

"Actually, Trip hatched from an Egg I received at the Day Care in Perto City." Kumiko explained. "A friend of my… friend's (Kumiko wasn't sure if she should even be referring to Kanade using that word) works there part-time, so she gave me one of the spare Eggs they had lying around."

"Come to think of it, doesn't the Champion have a Hydreigon too…?" Shuichi mused, causing Kumiko to shudder as he neared the truth she had tried so desperately to hide. "Never mind. That's most likely just a coincidence. Let's battle! Fighter, use Force Palm!"

Rushing forward with one arm outstretched, Fighter lunged at the unprepared Trip with daunting speed. Since he was unable to properly see the battlefield, Kumiko observed the situation before giving him precise instructions. "Dragon Rush, directly in front of you!"

Matching Fighter's speed, Trip leapt ahead as well, surging in the direction his head tilted. The two Pokémon colliding in the middle of the battlefield, it seemed that they were evenly matched as attack clashed against attack. However, both Pokémon soon rebounded back from each other, being dealt different types of damage.

While Trip's Dragon Rush was certainly stronger in terms of raw power, Fighter's Force Palm was super-effective against Trip's Dark-type, so the two of them were equally hurt. Getting up sooner, Trip could respond to Kumiko's next command faster than Fighter could obey Shuichi's. "Trip, adjust yourself 20 degrees to your right, run as fast as you can, and use Fire Fang when I say so!"

"Fighter, Force Palm again!" With Kumiko having to account for Trip's lack of sight, it was Fighter who actually held an advantage on the battlefield, moving right after Shuichi's prompt order. Darting right ahead before Kumiko even finished speaking, Trip's slow start meant that Fighter had already closed a majority of the distance separating them. Regardless, Kumiko's plan could still work.

"Now!" she shouted upon seeing Fighter's palm about to hit Trip right in the face. Right before he was about to be dealt another round of super-effective damage, Trip opened his jaw before filling it with flames, and chomped down on Fighter's outstretched arm with all his strength.

Howling in pain, Fighter mindlessly discharged his Force Palm inside Trip's mouth, causing it to deal less damage than it normally would. Still not letting go, Trip let the embers of his Fire Fang continue to burn Fighter, beginning to sear off tiny bits of his fur. Seeing his Pokémon writhe in pain, Shuichi came up with a solution on the spot, smacking his head upon realizing how obvious it was.

"Use Force Palm with your other hand!" Despite enduring terrible amounts of pain at the moment, Fighter was still able to heed Shuichi's order. Beginning to charge up another Force Palm with his free hand, Kumiko saw what Fighter was about to do and opted for the quickest way to side-line the damage Trip was about to receive.

"Fling him away!" Tilting his head to one side with Fighter's arm still buried in his mouth, what Trip was about to do next sent shivers running down Shuichi's spine. Flicking his neck the other way, Trip let go of Fighter's arm at the same time, sending him flying across the battlefield. As he began to descend, Kumiko saw an opportunity to end this fight right here and now.

"Trip, turn your body 10 degrees to the right and use Dragon Rush!" Listening to his Trainer, Trip then geared up his body for one final attack. Running in the direction Kumiko outlined for him, Trip slammed into Fighter headfirst, sending him careening back for the second time in a row.

Running over to check on Fighter as he bounced on the ground, Shuichi saw that he had already fainted by the time he landed. Recalling Fighter back to his Pokéball without haste, Shuichi then sent out his next Pokémon, eager to continue the fight. "Lulu, I choose you!"

Seeing a Lurantis come out from the Pokéball Shuichi threw, Kumiko was surprised at both his Pokémon and the nickname he chose. "A Lurantis, hm? Doesn't seem like the type of Pokémon I'd associate with you. Maybe that's why its nickname is actually half-decent this time around."

"You see! Even an old Mightyena can learn new tricks!" Hearing Kumiko's slightly positive comment, Shuichi couldn't help but proudly boast. "To think up Lulu's nickname, I pored through lists and lists of baby names for people and Pokémon, researched the etymology of many plant-based words online, and even consulted the advice of my friends! I've really gone all-out this time."

"Or you could've just repeated the first syllable of 'Lu'rantis twice." Kumiko remarked, noting that Shuichi's self-proclaimed 'achievement' wasn't any sort of achievement at all. "By the way, how did you get a Lurantis? Did you catch a fully-evolved one, or found it as a Fomantis?"

"Lulu joined me back when he was a Fomantis." Shuichi told Kumiko, who was deeply unsettled by his Lurantis' gender reveal. With such a feminine nickname for a male Pokémon, Kumiko truly believed that Shuichi's nicknaming skills were completely beyond saving. "I couldn't sleep one night, so I went walking and found him scurrying around, looking for a safe place to hide. After convincing him he would be all right with me, Lulu decided to join my team then and there."

"Great. Yet another abduction story." With how Shuichi seemed to be kidnapping his newest partners from the wild, Kumiko was starting to doubt that her friend was completely sane. Recalling Trip, Kumiko decided to give another one of her Pokémon a chance to battle. "Mitsuke, let's move on to tomorrow!"

Doing a twirl as he settled into a midair glide, Shuichi almost burst out laughing upon seeing Kumiko's newest partner. "Oh my… at this point, I can't even! You of all people catching a Whimscott? That makes so much sense! You've got fluffy hair, it's got fluffy wool. You two are perfectly made for each other!"

"What's so funny about that?" Kumiko questioned Shuichi, causing him to promptly rethink his life choices. "I only caught Mitsuke after my Pokémon somehow found him while wandering around at night! Our meeting was just an extreme coincidence! Nothing more, nothing less! That said, I've got to agree his wool's really fluffy. It makes me want to forget everything and continue cuddling him."

"Fair enough." Shuichi relented, not wanting his bickerings with Kumiko to get in the way of their fight. They could settle everything on the battlefield "Then let's continue! Lulu, use X-Scissor!"

Charging up Bug-type energy at his scythe-like forearms, Lulu then lunged forwards at Mitsuke, ready to slash down at him. Only finding out what moves he had late last night, Kumiko was unsure how to use most of them in battle, but this match with Shuichi could prove to be a great opportunity for testing them out. "Use Tailwind!"

Summoning a turbulent whirlwind behind him, Mitsuke floated up on it to dodge Lulu's incoming super-effective attack. Swiftly maneuvering across the battlefield, Mitsuke arranged himself so that he was quickly behind Lulu, and waited for Kumiko's next order.

"Moonblast!" Using another of his new moves, Mitsuke charged up a large sphere of Fairy-type energy before launching it at Lulu. Not having any room to dodge, Lulu was knocked back towards the ground, but used his arm-scythes to stall his fall. Now semi-rooted into the ground, Lulu tried his best to predict where his opponent would be as Shuichi called out again.

"Use a Petal Blizzard!" Shuichi shouted. Whipping up a flurry of pink petals around himself, Lulu used them both to deflect any potential attacks from Mitsuke and to sense his location. While the intense Tailwind lessened its power somewhat, the Petal Blizzard still prevented Mitsuke from getting closer and firing out an attack.

As the petals gradually lost their momentum, Kumiko knew this was a good opportunity to get in another hit, but she also saw Lulu standing up and looking around. Since it was either Mitsuke or Lulu who was going to strike next, Kumiko didn't want to be on the losing end in the next engagement. Making the easiest split-second decision in her life, Kumiko gave her next order. "Mitsuke, Hurricane!"

With a strong breeze already present from his previous Tailwind, Mitsuke added another gust of wind on top of it, greatly strengthening the existing gale. Sending the second layer of rapid air towards Lulu, Mitsuke watched as his opponent was quickly sucked into it and spiraled upwards.

Realizing this powerful and super-effective move was going to wipe Lulu out if he didn't do anything quickly, Shuichi started to think of ways that Lulu could escape from his windy jail. Thinking back to an Elite Four battle he saw on TV a while back, Shuichi decided to borrow a trick from that fight, seeing as it also involved a Pokémon stuck in a Hurricane. If that didn't work, nothing would.

"Lulu, slash your Leaf Blades in the opposite direction of the Hurricane!" Shuichi shouted. Managing to hear him amidst the strong wind's deafening roar, Lulu obeyed his Trainer, aligning himself in the proper orientation before swinging his arm-scythes. The Grass-type energy surrounding his blades enhancing their raw power, Lulu was able to dissipate most of the Hurricane's strength just by following Shuichi's advice.

However, Mitsuke's Tailwind was still active, which meant his advantage in mobility had not yet disappeared. Being able to constantly monitor where Lulu was in the Hurricane by quickly floating around in midair, Mitsuke was ready to continue their fight once his opponent had broken free. All he needed now was an order from Kumiko.

"Use another Hurricane!" Upon hearing his Trainer's voice, Mitsuke was ready to fulfill the unspoken guarantee between them. Whipping up another gust of strong winds, Mitsuke also combined it with the petering Tailwind to create a more powerful version, knowing that he would be unable to use it shortly afterwards anyways.

Though Lulu had just broken free of one Hurricane, that stunt had already used up most of his strength already, and he was just hoping to land back on the ground before trying anything else. With another attack of the same caliber headed right towards where he was, those dreams of Lulu's were swiftly dashed.

Knowing that his Trainer would want him to keep on fighting as long as there was a chance, Lulu prepared yet another Leaf Blade as he continued falling, preparing to be picked up by a Hurricane yet again. Unfortunately, Lulu was too exhausted at this point to muster up the type of force he unleashed the first type around, so he was quickly swept up without much fanfare despite his best efforts.

Seeing Lulu plummet back to the ground after the Hurricane ended, Shuichi recalled him back into his Pokéball to save him from the pain of hitting the floor. There was no way Lulu would have survived two consecutive super-effective attacks, so Shuichi decided to spare him from more suffering after that. Checking his Pokédex only confirmed any suspicions he had left.

Sighing, Shuichi was about to ready his next Pokémon, but he then decided to give Kumiko a surprise. Reaching for another Pokéball instead, Shuichi threw it out with renewed vigour, hoping that this would turn the tide. "Magnet, it's your turn now!"

Expecting Shuichi's Magnemite to have already evolved into a Magneton by now, Kumiko was surprised when a Magnezone came out of his Pokéball, meaning Shuichi had somehow fulfilled the mysterious condition required to perform that special evolution.

"Of all the people I would expect to have a Magnezone on their team, I can't believe you're the first one I've met." Kumiko was actually quite impressed with what Shuichi had managed, but the semi-hostile tone she directed towards him betrayed her true thoughts. Nevertheless, she soon became more curious about what he did. "How did you manage to get your Magnemite to evolve into one?"

"Well, Magnet evolved into a Magneton shortly before we reached Ubmedi City, then it evolved into a Magnezone when we were fending off some wild Pokémon near the Gym building." Shuichi explained. "After talking to some people, I learnt that the Gym emits some strange electromagnetic waves because of the equipment they use inside, which causes certain Pokémon to evolve, including Magneton."

"I see." Kumiko noted, then realized they had to continue their fight. Recalling Mitsuke, Kumiko then sent out a Pokémon of hers Shuichi had definitely seen before. "Orpheus, let's face the music!"

Upon seeing that Orpheus had evolved into a Gallade, Shuichi was also surprised Kumiko had managed to find the Dawn Stone required for a Kirlia to evolve this way. "So, now it looks like we've both had our Pokémon evolve in unexpected ways. How did you get the Dawn Stone you needed?"

"A friend found one for me while we were exploring a cave together, but I actually evolved Orpheus a while later before a climactic battle." Not wanting to mention Reina's name for fear of sending Shuichi into a state of frenzy, Kumiko decided to give him the easy explanation. She also omitted any mention of HTT, knowing Shuichi wouldn't believe her.

"The way you described that sounded super cliché, but I rest my case." Shuichi concluded, though he rightfully suspected there was more to Kumiko's story. "Now that we've finally got that out of the way, let's get back to battling! Magnet, Thunderbolt!"

"Orpheus, dodge and leap in for a Brick Break!" Somersaulting in the air to avoid the incoming attack, Orpheus then closed in on Magnet as he delivered a powerful blow using both his arm-blades. However, Shuichi seemed to have expected this happening, and a grin formed on his face as he realized he had outsmarted Kumiko for the first time in battle. Now was the time to strike back.

"Flash Cannon, now!" he shouted triumphantly. Charging up a sphere of Steel-type energy, Magnet then fired it towards Orpheus at point-blank range. With no room to dodge, Orpheus was quickly launched back, though he regained his footing a few moments later by using his arm-blades to stabilize himself.

While Orpheus was certainly hardy enough to face multiple Thunderbolts or Flash Cannons head-on and still win, Kumiko didn't want him to suffer through all that damage beforehand. Preferring to take a safer approach to victory instead, Kumiko then decided to try out one of Orpheus' new moves. "Aura Sphere!"

A spinning orb of bright blue light began to form on the tip of Orpheus' right arm-blade, growing larger until it was the size of a baseball. When Orpheus hurled it out, Kumiko saw that the Aura Sphere appeared to curve its trajectory in midair, accurately striking Magnet even as it tried to get out of the way. Despite Orpheus' ranged attacks being less powerful compared to his melee attacks, Kumiko believed this was the way to win after the success of this move.

"Don't give up yet! Magnet, use Thunderbolt again!" Firing another Thunderbolt out, Magnet's attack was then intercepted by another Aura Sphere from Orpheus. However, instead of both attacks colliding and dissipating normally in midair, the Aura Sphere seemed to absorb the Thunderbolt, growing even larger before bursting and knocking the two Pokémon back.

"What… just happened over there?" Confused by how the two attacks reacted to each other back there, Kumiko wasn't really sure what to do next. Though that was certainly interesting to see, Kumiko had more things to worry about, mainly how she should plan around Shuichi countering Orpheus' Aura Spheres.

"I have just about as much of an idea as you do." Shuichi replied, the fact that Kumiko was muttering to herself completely flying over his head. "But maybe since an Aura Sphere is literally an orb of compressed Aura, it could take on different types when exposed to them? That's just my guess."

"Well, maybe you do have a point there." Kumiko remarked, realizing that Shuichi's words possibly had an ounce of truth behind them. Wanting to prove a theory forming inside of her mind, Kumiko decided to test it out with her next orders. "Orpheus, fire out an Aura Sphere with a left arm, then quickly slash at it with a Fire Punch from your right arm!"

Obeying his Trainer's commands, Orpheus rapidly executed them. The resulting Aura Sphere and Fire Punch combination now blazing a bright red, it zoomed directly towards Magnet, easily knocking it off-balance with the combined moves' super-effective typing.

"Huh, I can't believe that worked." Noting to herself that this Aura Sphere combo could be useful in future battles, Kumiko knew she still had one more thing to do as Magnet rose back up, quite hurt but still able to fight. Motioning to Orpheus, Kumiko then relayed to him his final move. "Now, use one more Brick Break!"

Dashing towards Magnet, Orpheus' movements were so swift that Shuichi had no time at all to even give his Pokémon an order. Only being able to watch as Magnet fell to the floor, unable to sustain its electromagnetic levitation, Shuichi took out Magnet's Pokéball and recalled it back.

As the results of this battle against Kumiko became more and more lopsided with every defeat of his Pokémon, Shuichi couldn't help but think back to his first battle with Kumiko, way back when they were just starting out in Relude Town.

That battle between Freddy and Kumiko's Maractus was far more even than the beating he was receiving at Kumiko's hands here, which led to one question ringing in Shuichi's mind: How did Kumiko get so strong in such a short amount of time?

While he certainly wanted to ask his friend about the secrets of her power, Shuichi decided to continue concentrating on the battle at hand, hoping to at least knock out one of Kumiko's Pokemon before the battle ended. Taking out his second-to-last Pokéball left, Shuichi threw it out. "Batty, you can do it!"

Upon hearing the familiar name, Kumiko was relieved to see a Crobat emerge from Shuichi's Pokéball. This meant he wasn't stuck with a completely useless Zubat anymore, but now had a faithful and powerful Crobat by his side. Choosing to switch out her Pokémon as well, Kumiko sent out one of her only partners she hadn't yet. "Sparkle, it's your turn to bear the load!"

After Sparkle had fully settled on the battlefield, Shuichi almost burst out laughing for the second time as he realized the pattern starting to emerge on Kumiko's team. "You've got to be kidding me! First a Whimscott and now an Ampharos? Are you assembling a team of fluffy Pokémon or something?"

"Well, now that you put it that way…" Unsure of what to do with the unsettling information Shuichi just mentioned to her, Kumiko simply shelved it away in favour of concentrating at the fight, not wanting to deal with its disturbing implications. "Well, let's just forget it for now. Sparkle, Thunderbolt!"

Discharging a Thunderbolt at Batty, Sparkle's raw power ultimately couldn't match her opponent's blistering speed. Ducking and weaving around the arc of lightning, Batty dodged Sparkle's attack and flew closer to her, patiently waiting for Shuichi's next command before choosing to attack.

"Cross Poison!" All four wings charging up with Poison-type energy, Batty then slashed them out in Sparkle's direction, a purple X-shape making its way towards her. With Sparkle not being the most agile Pokémon around, she was quickly hit by the attack before even being able to dodge.

"Now swoop in for a Crunch!" Diving down, Batty's teeth soon found their way into the skin on Sparkle's forearm, Dark-type energy seething through them. Swatting her arm around, Sparkle tried to fling Batty away, but her opponent still stubbornly clung to her side. Seeing Sparkle trying to get rid of Batty to no avail, Kumiko then saw an opportunity for Sparkle to get an attack in.

"Aim a Thunderbolt at close range!" As her entire body began building up electricity, Sparkle then let it loose at her opponent. Unfortunately for her, Batty had already seen the attack coming, and was able to swiftly fly away and evade it as Sparkle continued to launch her lightning.

Realizing this targeted approach wasn't going to work even if she continued it, Kumiko knew she needed a shift in tactics, or else Batty's hit-and-run attacks would slowly whittle Sparkle's health down. Thankfully, one of Sparkle's new moves could provide what she needed now. "Use Discharge!"

Instead of firing out electricity in a single direction, Sparkle let it loose as a sphere pulsing out from her body, allowing her to hit an opponent from all angles. Unable to dodge this time, the only thing Batty could do now was fly even faster, hoping to outrun the surging electricity. Ultimately, this did not work, and Batty was soon sent tumbling to the ground.

Quickly recovering, Batty flew back up again as Shuichi now saw what Kumiko was capable of. With Batty having no way to defend from an area-of-effect move like Discharge, the only thing Shuichi could do was to have Batty perform even more hit-and-run attacks before Sparkle could land the finishing blow.

"Get in close and use Acrobatics!" Twirling in the air, Batty then performed a series of tricky aerial maneuvers while attacking Sparkle, but she quickly fired another Discharge to act as a deterrent. While Batty's attacks were certainly dealing a fair amount of damage to Sparkle, she still had the upper hand with her super-effective attacks.

In fact, her Discharges were so powerful that Batty only had a sliver of health left, not even enough to survive past one more Discharge. At this point, thoughts of conceding to Kumiko coursed through Shuichi's mind, but he vowed to stand his ground right here and now. As her childhood friend, Shuichi couldn't let himself be thrown away like a side character.

"Use Cross Poison again!" Despite knowing that it would most likely lead to Batty being hit with yet another Discharge, Shuichi knew that he had to at least make an effort to try and fight against Kumiko. Even if he would always play second fiddle (or was it second trombone in his case?) to her, the least Shuichi could do for his friend was to give her a good battle.

As Batty charged forward, Sparkle instinctively responded with one last Discharge, electrifying the air in front of her. With that decisive move, Batty was finally knocked out, leaving Shuichi with only a single team member left after his numerous defeats at Kumiko's hands.

Recalling Batty back, Shuichi took out his final Pokéball and threw it. No other choice left for him now, Shuichi could only place whatever hopes and dreams he still had left onto his starter Pokémon. "Freddy, it's all up to you now!"

Seeing a Greninja emerge from Shuichi's Pokéball, Kumiko was relieved that Shuichi had been treating his Pokémon well enough that all of them (with the exception of Fighter) had already evolved into their final forms. With all but one of her Pokémon having fought Shuichi in this battle, Kumiko decided to give her starter some time to shine as well. "Marcato, let's hit it!"

After doing a twirl in midair as he came out of his Pokéball, Marcato locked eyes with Freddy upon landing on the ground, the two Pokémon sizing each other up. While Freddy had evolved twice since their first battle at Relude Town, Marcato hadn't changed at all on the surface, but his eyes now had a fiery glow from everything he had been through.

"Alright, let's get to it! Freddy, Ice Beam!" Shuichi shouted. Shooting a stream of ice from his mouth directly towards Marcato, Freddy was thankful that his Trainer had taught him this move to use against Grass-types. After having been defeated two times in a row by Marcato, Freddy was now ready to strike back.

"Use that Sunny Day combo!" Confused as to what Kumiko was talking about, Shuichi could only watch in a mixture as awe and fear as Marcato seemed to ready a Sunny Day, only to stop midway and absorb the emerging sunlight gathered at his twin flowers. Before Shuichi could comprehend what happened next, Marcato had already dodged Freddy's attack in the blink of an eye, reappearing behind him.

"How… how is that possible?" Shuichi gawked in abject confoundment. That clearly wasn't a normal move Pokémon could learn. "Did you discover a new move or something? No Pokémon could possibly move that fast!"

"Beats me. All I know is that it has something to do with Marcato's Ability Chlorophyll reacting with a botched Sunny Day." Kumiko replied, not really caring about the specifics of Marcato's new trick, only that it worked in her favour. "But no matter! You're still going down! Solar Beam!"

Quickly charging up a Solar Beam thanks to the sunlight he absorbed earlier, Marcato shot it out at Freddy, who barely had any time to react before being launched back with tremendous force. Easily moving at Freddy's speed, Marcato caught up to him right as he landed, staring his dazed opponent in the face.

"Alright, now use Wood Hammer!" Conjuring up a gigantic green hammer before slamming it into Freddy, Marcato decisively decided the outcome of Kumiko and Shuichi's battle with this moment. Despite his best efforts, Shuichi still had a long way to go before he could ever hope to be Kumiko's equal.

"That was a great battle, don't you agree?" Shuichi asked Kumiko as he recalled Freddy. While he was slightly bitter at how the fight turned out, Shuichi hid it from his friend. "I can't believe you've improved this much since we've last met, but mark my words: I'll be back and better than before! Just watch me!"

"Heh. Some people never change." Kumiko quietly mumbled to herself, before earning a look from Shuichi. "What? Anyways, thanks for battling with me. It's always good to check up on you like this. Makes me feel better about myself."

Though that sounded like a stealth insult from Kumiko, Shuichi decided to take it at face value, wanting to assume his friend still appreciated his presence. Offering a closed hand out for a good-natured fistbump, Shuichi was grateful when Kumiko begrudgingly returned the favour, happy that she was tolerant of him.

"By the way, I've thought of a name for the weird sunlight thingy your Maractus used back there." Shuichi mentioned offhandedly, piquing Kumiko's interest. "Since it reminded me of using an F trigger valve on a trombone to quickly switch between notes, how about calling that trick Second Valve?"

"That… surprisingly makes sense, coming from you." Kumiko conceded, having no idea Shuichi had the ability to to come up with such an intricate name for something. "I'll be sure to use that name if I ever remember it."

* * *

Coming back from the bathroom, Reina was still holding her stomach as she wondered what could have caused her terrible stomach problems. Was it something in the curry she ate yesterday?

Soon noticing that Kumiko wasn't sitting on the bench she left her at, Reina then looked around the nearby area for any trace of her girlfriend. Her eyes darting left and right, Reina then caught sight of Kumiko… along with He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named.

Their fistbump causing Reina to momentarily see red, she calmed herself down a split-second later, wanting to think of a better course of action compared to directly dropkicking You-Know-Who. Coldly calculating her plan of attack, Reina then remembered what she heard earlier the two gifts Mamiko gave her after the successful date with Kumiko. There would be no better time to use them.

An evil smile appearing on her face, Reina then took out the two sunflower hairclips and slipped the black one on top of her bangs. Sending out Idina, Reina quickly gave her a set of orders before she walked towards Kumiko, dastardly thoughts forming in her head.

Her right hand clenched tightly around the white sunflower clip, Reina immediately knelt down in front of her girlfriend as she stood in front of her. Unfurling her fist to reveal the white sunflower clip, Reina said the words she always dreamt of saying.

"Kumiko Oumae, you are my love, you are my life. Will you marry me?"

* * *

A/N: Happy early birthday, Shuichi... or not? (Shuichi's birthday is September 18th, if you even bothered to remember it. I know I didn't.) And Mamiko helps Reina to win Kumiko's heart yet again! Unfortunately, now is the time where I have to announce I will be taking a one-week break, since I have some personal things to deal with. After I come back from the break, new chapters of To Be A Solister will be released about 9 hours earlier for various reasons, or from Thursday to Wednesday in most places, so expect the next chapter to be released on September 30th. However, there is also a small chance this break will take longer than expected, so stay tuned for further updates!


	55. Chapter 55: RYDEEN - Part 1

Upon seeing Reina dash out of nowhere like that, Shuichi was left completely flabbergasted at what he just witnessed. That had certainly doured his day, but it was what Reina did next which completely crushed all his remaining hopes and dreams.

"Kumiko Oumae, you are my love, you are my life. Will you marry me?"

That single sentence had shut down Shuichi's brain. Just where had that question come from? He had seen Reina with Kumiko three times before, and the two girls had seemed quite close (at least, when Reina wasn't trying to make him suffer). However, never would he have expected a freaking marriage proposal to come out of Reina's mouth! At least it was a relief she wasn't trying to kill him on sight.

"Bwwaahh-WHAT?!" was the only noise that came out of Kumiko's mouth. Unable to process what Reina had asked her, Kumiko could only stand still in shock as she tried to work through every last word. After a while, the gears in her mind began turning again, and immediately went into maximum overdrive.

"Marry? Are you serious? But we're too young!" Frantically moving her body around in all directions, the motions Kumiko was going through looked more like a funky dance than a proper reaction. Steadfast in her decision, Reina continued to kneel as she addressed her girlfriend with an unchanging face, her external expression contrasting the flurry of emotions she was also going through herself.

"Yes, Kumiko. Regardless of our age, I'm completely serious and always will be." Reina reassured her girlfriend with a smile, which caused Kumiko to blush. Reina always looked beautiful, but she looked even more fantastic today. Gazing at her special one's most tantalized features, Kumiko was surprised when her eyes settled on the black sunflower hairclip attached to Reina's flowing black hair. That was new.

While Reina's hair accessory was like adding a cherry on top to her already magnificent splendor, what made it more intriguing was that she was holding a white version of the hairclip in her outstretched hand. Quickly putting two and two together, Kumiko realized that Reina was using matching hairclips in lieu of rings. Combined with the look on her face, Reina really wasn't joking around with what she was doing.

"But, why…? Why now, of all times? Couldn't you have chosen a more romantic moment?" Despite appreciating the gesture, Kumiko still found it strange that Reina had abruptly done this without any sort of build-up.

Confused as to what her girlfriend was planning, Kumiko continued to stare at Reina until she cleared her throat. While it seemed Reina was getting impatient from her gesture, she was actually losing the strength in her legs to continue kneeling, though she wouldn't ever admit that out loud.

"Kumiko, please. The reason doesn't matter. Just answer my question. It means so much to me." Not expecting her girlfriend to be so indecisive when it came to answering her question, Reina was starting to consider whether or not proposing to Kumiko really was the best way of getting back at Shuichi. Thankfully, she had a backup plan prepared in case this failed miserably.

"Are you kidding, Reina? Of course yes! Of course I want to marry you! You're the most special person I've ever met!" With Kumiko gladly taking the white sunflower clip from Reina's hand and attaching it to her hair, it was at this moment that Shuichi realized just where his twin sunflower clips had gone.

Wanting to bury whatever hatchets he had with Reina and impress Kumiko with his diplomatic skills at the same time, Shuichi had bought the flower clips at Minant City upon arriving there. They had caught Shuichi's eye when he saw them at an accessory shop and were reasonably priced, so making the purchase was an easy decision. It was more than worth it to get Reina off his back.

Hoping to give them to Kumiko when he saw her, it was only after buying them that Shuichi realized he didn't know when they would cross paths again. Thankfully, he remembered Mamiko lived here, so Shuichi decided giving them to her was his best bet. Kumiko's older sister would definitely know where she was. Even if she didn't, Mamiko would at least have a way to tell her about his gift.

Unfortunately for Shuichi, all his aspirations were dashed when Reina had sent him to the Shadow Realm (his nickname for whatever that place was) during his first visit to Mamiko's Gym. After spending who knows how long getting out of there, Shuichi discovered to his horror the twin hairclips had disappeared from his pocket.

Asking Mamiko if she had seen them once he reached her Gym again, Shuichi was disappointed when she told him she hadn't found anything like that at all in her Gym. Based on the way she reacted, Shuichi still suspected there was something more to Mamiko's story, but thought nothing of it.

About to write their loss off as an unfortunate accident, Shuichi was left completely floored when those two hairclips had resurfaced again, this time in a completely unexpected way. It seemed that after being slapped by her Feebas, Reina had picked up the hairclips which had fallen out of his pocket, and had saved them to use at this very moment.

"No, this isn't supposed to happen!" Distraught at how his plans had been completely ruined by the girl who hated him more than anything else, Shuichi sunk to his knees in despair. To add even more misfortune to his load, a ghostly chill crept right up Shuichi's spine once he looked up, and everything soon froze in place for him.

With Kumiko and Reina oblivious to the world around them as they engaged in an impromptu make-out session, no one even noticed that Shuichi had been encased in a block of ice by Idina. She had been hovering nearby on Reina's orders, ready to freeze Shuichi if he had even so much dared to peep at the results of a successful proposal, or punish him had it failed.

Reina's plan had worked out exactly as she hoped.

* * *

"Hey you, you're finally awake."

As Reina continued to defrost Shuichi, Kumiko looked on as she struggled to stand. Still aching from everything she did with Reina last night, Kumiko was left confused at how Shuichi had managed to get himself frozen in a block of ice for no apparent reason.

Going back to the Pokémon Center once they had finished making out, Kumiko and Reina continued their romantic activities in private, celebrating their strengthened relationship with unbridled passion. Lost in their love, it was only once they woke up the next day that Reina remembered she had two things to do: unfreeze Shuichi and challenge the Gym here. Well, maybe not the first thing.

The place where Shuichi had been frozen was en route to the Gym from the Pokémon Center, so Reina had no choice but to free him from his icy prison once Kumiko pointed out that sculpture over there looked a little too familiar. Ordering Ai to use Sunny Day for a source of heat, Reina blankly stared at Shuichi once the area around his head had been defrosted, causing him to blink twice.

"Guh, what? Why is it morning now? What just happened to me?" Despite Shuichi asking around in confusion, Reina thought he didn't deserve to know the truth. Telling Ai to stop her Sunny Day, Reina decided to leave all four of his limbs and torso encased in that block of ice. She liked Shuichi more that way.

"Oh, nothing much. Being the sick pervert you are, you had a nosebleed after seeing two lesbians make out yesterday, and nearly passed out from blood loss after that. Putting you on ice was the best way to avoid any further complications." Even when Kumiko was about to press Reina for more details, Reina quieted her girlfriend- no, fiancee now with a look that said 'I'll handle this', as Shuichi began to speak again.

"Then why don't I remember that? The last thing I remember is Kumiko accepting your proposal, and you two looked happy together. Wait, did-" Whatever Shuichi wanted to say next was quickly cut off by Reina, not wanting Kumiko to know about her plot to take Shuichi out of the equation.

"It's natural that you'll suffer from some short-term memory loss after being defrosted. Get over it." Glancing at the still-frozen Shuichi, Reina knew that leaving him here was definitely a no-no from Kumiko, so she decided to give him an offer. That would surely prevent Kumiko from getting too upset. "Tell you what. How about you come with us and watch our Gym challenge? That way, you'll get to see some more lesbian action. Hope that satisfies you, you dirty pervert."

"I'm not…" His voice trailing off, Shuichi was boxed in both figuratively and literally, with the only way out being what the person who hated him the most had set out. Swallowing the small bits of pride he had left. Shuichi accepted. "Fine, I'll take you up. But how are you going to get me to the Gym? Carry me?"

"You wish." Recalling Ai back into her Pokéball, Reina then sent out Eurydice and ordered her to use Psychic and lift up Shuichi, still partially frozen inside the block of ice. Heading on with Kumiko, the rest of Reina's journey was rather uneventful until Shuichi opened his mouth again once they were right in front of the Gym.

"Uh, I don't know if this is the right time to say this, but I actually know the Gym Leader here." Shuichi said from his block of ice, causing both Reina and Kumiko's heads to turn. "He's one of the people I asked about why my Magneton evolved into a Magnezone around this area, and we hit it off quite well after that. He also plays the trombone, and has a girlfriend who helps him out at the Gym.'

"I see." Reina almost tuned out Shuichi's words by this point. Just what did that have to do with challenging the Gym? All she wanted right now was to win, and Shuichi's information wouldn't help her with that. However, she did note the Gym had an electromagnetic field around it based on what Shuichi mentioned, which confirmed that it specialized in Electric-types. That would be useful if she hadn't heard about it already.

Opening the door, Reina was greeted by the sound of a trombone blasting through her ears. Looking in the direction of where it came from, she saw a rather tall young man with sandy brown hair setting said trombone down, while a young woman with darker brown hair arranged into twin drills drooping on both sides of her head was next to him.

"Hi! Are you here for your Gym challenge? I'm Hideri, the Gym Leader, and this is my girlfriend Mei." Noticing the newcomers entering, the Gym Leader gave them a friendly wave. It was then that he noticed Shuichi's ice block currently suspended in midair. "...Shuichi? What in the world?"

"Hey, hi there." Unable to give a wave in return, all Shuichi could do was answer sheepishly. "You're probably wondering how I ended up in this position. To tell you the truth, it's a long story, but my friends are here to challenge you. Are you free right now?"

"Yeah, got nothing else to do for the rest of the day, so I'd be happy to battle you two." the Gym leader replied. Reina was about to protest that she wasn't Shuichi's friend or anything, but kept her mouth shut as the Gym Leader continued. "So, how many badges do you two have, and who's going first?"

"We've both got five badges, and I'll go first. Is that alright with you, Kumiko?" After a nod from her fiancee, Reina strode over to the battlefield with her Pokéballs by her side. Despite knowing that leaving Kumiko with Shuichi ran counter to her every desire, this was a necessary sacrifice for Reina if she wanted to be even more special.

"Alright then. This will be a five-on-five battle, and whoever gets all their Pokémon knocked out first loses. Only the challenger is allowed to switch out their Pokémon at any time during the battle." Taking a set of five Pokéballs from a nearby counter, the Gym Leader went to his side of the battlefield as his girlfriend stepped up on the referee podium. With both sides ready to battle, the Gym Leader threw out his first Pokéball. "The day has come, Denki!"

Seeing an Amped Toxtricity emerge, Kumiko thought that name sounded familiar as she saw the Gym Leader's Pokémon strum the organs on its chest like a guitarist. Remembering where she heard the name from, she turned to Shuichi. "Wait a moment. Isn't that the name of…"

"Yeah. The Gym Leader's an anime fan, so all his Pokémon have anime-related nicknames." Shuichi confirmed what Kumiko was thinking. While Kumiko hadn't really caught up with that particular anime in a while, Shuichi had told her before that the manga was currently in the middle of an exciting arc.

"Howl like the swirling storm inside, Demi!" Sending out her first Pokémon, it seemed Reina was aiming to take control of the battlefield right from the get-go. Kumiko wondered if the Gym Leader would take any countermeasures against that as the referee raised both her arms.

"Battle begin!" The moment those words were said, a hailstorm formed above the battlefield as Reina played Let It Go, causing an Aurora Veil to shimmer into existence in front of Demi. With Demi's barrier immediately set up, Reina was now free to attack as she pleased.

"Use Sludge Bomb!" Amassing something in its throat, the Gym Leader's Toxtricity hurled out a chunk of unsanitary sludge at Demi, who swiftly dodged the attack on Reina's orders. While the Aurora Veil would certainly reduce how hurt Demi would be, it still wasn't wise for her to directly take super-effective damage.

Placing her trumpet to her lips, Reina played the melody of Vivaldi's Winter as Demi began to whip up a Blizzard. Sending it flying straight towards the Gym Leader's Toxtricity, the wide-ranging attack was impossible to dodge even from a distance. Battered by the snowstorm, the Gym Leader's Toxtricity stumbled back, but recovered in time to attack again.

"Let's try an Overdrive this time!" Twanging the organs on its chest, the Gym Leader's Toxtricity blasted out an electrified echo all across the battlefield, which prevented Demi from evading like she did previously. Unable to counter with another move either, Demi could only bear the full brunt of the attack, but her Aurora Veil reduced the resulting impact.

With hail continuing to fall from above, Reina was thankful the passive damage being dealt to the Gym Leader's Toxtricity was helping to even the odds in her favour. In battle, there was absolutely no way of knowing just how much of an advantage or disadvantage existed between combatants, so any visible indicators such as attacks or the hail helped to serve as 'markers' when considering what to do next.

As Demi wasn't suited for prolonged battle, Reina estimated she could only take two or three more hits before fainting, possibly even one if the next attack which connected was super-effective. Coming to this conclusion, there weren't many choices for Reina other than guaranteeing a decisive victory right now.

"Now go for another Sludge Bomb, bell tone style!" It seemed the Gym Leader was also aware of this fact, telling his Toxtricity to use the same move which Demi had dodged earlier. As Reina ordered Demi to evade like last time, she noticed that the attack wasn't headed towards Demi directly, but rather a bit in front of her original position.

Unable to give any other commands in the time she had left, Reina could only watch as the Sludge Bomb fractured upon impact with the ground, blowing bits of itself everywhere. One of those chunks landed right on Demi, and dealt quite a bit of damage even with its reduced size and an Aurora Veil protecting her.

Thankfully, Reina could see that Demi was nowhere near fainting after the previous attack, which meant her tactics were still on track for now. Slipping the Icium Z into her Z-Power Ring, Reina let its power course through her as her body moved in strange ways, allowing Demi to launch an extremely powerful Ice-type attack at the Gym Leader's Toxtricity, swiftly knocking it out.

"Toxtricity is unable to battle." the referee announced. As the Gym Leader recalled his Pokémon, Reina did the same for Demi as well. In her current condition, there was no way Demi could take more than one attack. With the battlefield currently being empty, the Gym Leader took this opportunity to send out his next Pokémon.

"Make some crazy noise, Chili!" As a Pom-Pom Oricorio burst out from the Gym Leader's Pokéball, Kumiko couldn't really place what anime that nickname was referencing, though she suspected it was a shout-out to something overlooked. Shelving those ponderings for another time, Kumiko turned her attention to Reina, who had also made her choice on who to send out.

"Don't hold back, Idina!" With her starter on the field, it seemed to Kumiko that Reina wanted to capitalize on the hailstorm Demi had set up. Being able to use Idina's Ice typing to its fullest potential under these conditions, Kumiko heard Reina play Vivaldi's Winter again as Idina fired an Ice Beam at the Gym Leader's Oricorio.

"Revelation Dance!" Rather than tell his Oricorio to dodge, the Gym Leader called out an attack instead. Doing a series of rather impressive dance moves, the Gym Leader's Oricorio finished its routine by throwing its wings forward, causing a blast of electricity to meet Idina's Ice Beam midway.

While the Ice Beam had been strengthened by the hail, the Revelation Dance surprisingly managed to hold its own, the two attacks clashing against each other before they both disappeared. It was during this interval that the Gym Leader's Oricorio stealthily made its way across the battlefield to get closer with Idina, and it prepared to strike again. "Use another Revelation Dance!"

Right as Reina also realized this, it was too late for her to properly react. However, the present hailstorm gave Idina an advantage which would benefit her here. Just before the Revelation Dance could hit her, Idina disappeared amidst the falling ice, using her Ability Snow Cloak to avoid the approaching attack as it passed through where she originally was.

Reappearing behind the Gym Leader's Oricorio, Idina then fired out an Ice Beam when Reina played Vivaldi's Winter, catching it off guard with the sneak attack. Doing a twirl as it was launched through midair, the Gym Leader's Oricorio faced Idina once it landed on its feet, ready to face off again.

Even as the hail slowly petered out, the Gym Leader knew evening the battlefield now was going to be an uneasy task. Still, he needed to give any challenger that came his way a tough battle to prove their mettle. "Use a Roost!"

Performing another dance before resting itself on the ground, Reina noticed the Gym Leader's Oricorio had regained a sizable portion of its health from how its movements seemed livelier. Gnashing her teeth at how all her previous efforts had been rendered moot, Reina resolved to take down the Gym Leader's Oricorio with haste.

With the notes of Vivaldi's Winter flowing through her trumpet yet again, Idina fired Ice Beam after Ice Beam, the frigid attacks streaking through the air one after another as she tried to hit the Gym Leader's Oricorio. Ducking and weaving its way through the crisscrossing trails of frost, it was only a matter of time before the Gym Leader's Oricorio would be too tired to continue.

Finally, the time had come. Its reactions dulling after frantically evading so many attacks, the Gym Leader's Oricorio could only rely on its Trainer's warnings now. However, that wasn't enough to prevent one Ice Beam hitting its mark, followed by a second the moment after. Once that successful one-two attack had landed, the Gym leader's Oricorio was down for the count.

"Oricorio is unable to battle." the referee announced. Despite Idina being at near-full health, Reina chose to switch her out as the Gym Leader recalled his Pokémon. Now that there wasn't any hail anymore, the strategy she used with Idina couldn't work. It wouldn't make any sense to continue having her out for any longer, seeing as her main advantage was gone.

"Enel, let's go over the top!" An Eelektross being the Pokémon the Gym Leader sent out, Reina remained steadfast despite knowing the challenge she would soon be up against. The combination of an Eelektross' pure Electric-typing along with its Ability Levitate meant that it had no elemental weaknesses, but Reina knew that attacks with sufficient power could make up for the lack of type advantages she had.

"Ai, let's be the stars that rise!" Being a Grass-type, Ai had a natural resistance to Electric-type moves, which were bound to be the strongest moves packed by the Gym Leader's Eelektross. Nudging the odds ever so slightly in her favour, Reina decided to push them even more towards her side as she played Brahms' Lullaby, telling Ai to cast a Sleep Powder.

Launching a fine dust from the flower on her head, Ai twirled around as it scattered around the battlefield, putting the Gym Leader's Eelektross to sleep right off the bat. Even with Ai's resistance to Electric-types, Reina still couldn't afford to take this battle lightly. Eelektross could learn a wide variety of moves, including ones whose types Ai was weak to, so Reina suspected the Gym Leader was saving them under his sleeves.

The elegant notes of Tchaikovsky's Waltz of the Flowers flowing out of Reina's trumpet, Ai took that as a cue to begin using Leaf Storm over and over again. Striking the Gym Leader's Eelektross repeatedly with her strongest move seemed like the best course of action Ai could take, but it came with a steep cost.

Leaf Storm produced such immense power that it gradually weakened the user every time it was used, decreasing the move's strength when used in succession. While Reina was certainly aware of this drawback, she needed to deal as much damage as possible before the Gym Leader's Eelektross awoke again. Once it was back in action, there was no telling how much damage Ai would take.

Starting to feel like she was pushing her limits after her last Leaf Storm, Ai's eyes widened as she saw the bioluminescence on the Gym Leader's Eelektross flicker back to their normal brightness. As it pushed itself back up to its normal posture, the Gym Leader's Eelektross spewed out a Flamethrower from its mouth directly at Ai, who was too close to dodge in time.

Partially deflecting the super-effective move using an exploding Pollen Puff, Ai was thankful her Trainer had taught her this trick to counter Fire-type attacks. Dusting off the ash and burnt pollen on her body, Ai turned to face the Gym Leader's Eelektross, who was raring to go for a chance at payback after all the damage it had suffered.

Analyzing the situation at hand, Reina judged that the Gym Leader's Eelektross was one hit away from fainting, so she needed to make sure Ai's next attack was successful. Otherwise, the Gym Leader's Eelektross would definitely counterattack with another Flamethrower, and Ai had barely managed to get off from the first one.

Thinking through what she could do next, any options Reina currently had were limited by her previous orders for Ai. All those Leaf Storms had considerably weakened Ai's offensive power, which meant whatever attack she did next wouldn't pack as much of a punch. As whatever time remained slowly ticked down, Reina knew she needed a solution - and fast.

With the Gym Leader's Eelektross shaking off the last of its drowsiness, there were now only a few moments left before it would attack again. Upon hitting on a surefire way out of this deadlock, Reina immediately put it into action, not wanting to waste a single second more. Playing Greensleeves on her trumpet, Reina told Ai to use Magical Leaf, the never-missing attack directly taking down the Gym Leader's Eelektross.

"Eelektross is unable to battle." the referee announced. Now that the Gym Leader only had two Pokémon left, Reina had a solid lead overall. Still, she couldn't afford to relax even with this advantage on her side. The tide of battle had ample opportunity to shift in the remaining battles, so Reina still had to keep up her guard.

"Kakashi, let's rock!" Once the Gym Leader sent out a Zebstrika, Kumiko instantly caught the anime reference in its nickname. Based on his reaction, it seemed Shuichi had got it as well, though being trapped in a block of ice didn't do any favours regarding his body language.

"Handel, play some water music!" Despite knowing Handel was weak to Electric-types, Reina reasoned she could take away any advantage the Gym Leader's Zebstrika had using his moveset. The main melody from Holst's Saturn coming out of Reina's trumpet, Handel forcefully slammed his tail down on the ground and used Bulldoze, causing the floor to break up beneath him.

"Jump up and use Wild Charge!" Cloaking itself in electricity, the Gym Leader's Zebstrika leapt away from the fracturing ground in Handel's direction. Lowering himself and slithering around, Handel managed to dodge the initial strike, but a quick heel turn followed by a forward blitz allowed the Gym Leader's Zebstrika to land a direct hit on Handel.

While the Gym Leader's Zebstrika staggered a bit from the recoil of using Wild Charge, it was Handel who had sustained far more damage, being a Water-type on the receiving end of an Electric-type move. Now only two or three hits away from fainting, Handel nevertheless prevented the Gym Leader's Zebstrika from using Wild Charge again with his initial Bulldoze.

Using that attack right at the beginning had left Handel open, but it turned the Gym's floor from a relatively flat surface into nearly unnavigable terrain, making it hard for the Gym Leader's Zebstrika to get a solid foothold and launch itself for close-range attacks. With his main battle strategy disrupted by a sudden shift in flooring, the Gym Leader had to fall back on far less effective moves now.

"Discharge!" Stomping on the ground with its two front legs, the Gym Leader's Zebstrika let out a pulse of electricity around itself in all directions, causing the attack to be unavoidable. Left slightly shocked by how fast the Gym Leader had changed plans on the fly, Reina decided to combine a counter she had in mind with Handel's next move, and played the Blue Danube Waltz on her trumpet.

An Aqua Ring formed around Handel, which caused some of the electricity approaching him to be redirected out of harm's way. Despite taking the brunt of the attack himself, Handel could negate its worst effects thanks to Aqua Ring's original use, which allowed him to slowly regain his health over time. Once the Discharge ended, Reina knew it was now the time to counterattack.

The notes of Holst's Saturn pouring out of Reina's trumpet once more, Handel's tail struck the ground a few more times, shaking up the ground even more. Dealing super-effective damage to the Gym Leader's Zebstrika and knocking it off-balance, Reina knew she had to play the long game here.

This certainly wasn't Reina usual M.O. when battling, but it was far more effective than going on her preferred all-out offensives. After all, not only did a truly special Trainer need to know about different battling styles, but master them all as well. That way, they could switch tactics mid-battle to throw off their opponents and easily adapt to the situation at hand.

Continuing to barrage the Gym Leader's Zebstrika from a distance, this boring but practical strategy was working out well for Handel and Reina. Repeatedly unable to regain solid footing in time to use an attack, the Gym Leader's Zebstrika eventually succumbed to the super-effective damage and fainted.

"Zebstrika is unable to battle." the referee announced. With only one of his Pokémon left, the Gym Leader wanted to give his challenger a daunting fight in their last battle. He knew he was going to lose at this point, but he still had a job to do.

"Misaka, shoot your railgun!" Upon seeing that the Gym Leader's last Pokémon was a Vikavolt, Reina instantly knew her previous strategy would now be completely ineffective. As a Vikavolt could fly and had the Levitate Ability, the change in terrain caused by Bulldoze wouldn't affect it, much less deal any damage.

"Eurydice, follow my lead!" Switching out Handel for Eurydice, Reina decided to fight fire with fire here. A Vikavolt's strengths lay in its devastating ranged attacks, which was also what Eurydice specialized in. Mega Evolving her, Reina then played Bizet's Habanera, causing a trail of Mystical Fire to flow out from Eurydice's outstretched palms.

"Counter that with a Railgun!" Its triangular mandibles beginning to flow with electricity, the Gym Leader's Vikavolt charged up a Flash Cannon near its jaw and launched it out. The metallic projectile was accelerated by the electromagnetic current flowing around it, allowing the strengthened Flash Cannon to blow away Eurydice's Mystical Fire before directly striking her.

With Eurydice being knocked backwards by the powerful attack, Reina prepared for the worst as she realized where she had seen this before. Using an electric charge to increase the velocity of a Flash Cannon was the exact same trick she saw Taki-sensei's Hydreigon pull off in a video she watched. It seemed the Gym Leader had also taken some inspiration there.

Thankfully, Eurydice had managed to survive that devastating blow, having projected a weak barrier around herself right before the hit. Though making it through was certainly impressive, Eurydice had only done so by the skin of her teeth. Even a delay of one second in creating the barrier would have resulted in an instant knock-out.

Still recovering from the impact of such a powerful super-effective move, Eurydice's current condition made it apparent to Reina that switching in another one of her Pokémon was impossible. It was only because of her Mega Evolved form that Eurydice had enough strength to withstand a direct shot. If any of Reina's other Pokémon had been in her place, that would have been game over for them.

Despite the Gym Leader's Vikavolt being his last Pokémon, Reina never felt more pushed against the wall than she did now. Having the power to render any of her Pokémon unconscious with a single shot, Reina needed to carefully consider what she did next against the Gym Leader's Vikavolt, or else her battle would be finished right here and now.

Looking at the Pokémon in question, Reina saw that the Gym Leader's Vikavolt hadn't moved at all since firing its last shot. Upon closer inspection, she discovered the inner edges of its mandibles and jaws were faintly glowing, most likely from the heat generated as a side result of channeling so much electricity.

As they weren't doing anything at all, Reina guessed the Gym Leader was waiting for his Vikavolt to finish cooling down before finishing off Eurydice with one more shot. Though time was now ticking down for Reina, she still had quite a few options to choose from regarding her plan of attack. Thinking through what she could do, Reina then realized the best tactic was in fact the simplest.

Playing Habanera again, Reina commanded Eurydice to use Mystical Fire once more. Now that she knew overheating was a side effect of the Gym Leader's Vikavolt using such a strong attack, Reina decided to extend the time needed for it to cool down while using a super-effective move at the same time. Killing two Pidgey with one Rock-type Pokémon, a few more Mystical Fires knocked the Gym Leader's Vikavolt out.

"Vikavolt is unable to battle." the referee announced. "The challenger emerges victorious!"

* * *

A/N: What a great day to be back! For those of you who're unaware, September 30th is KumiRei day (In Japanese, 9 = Ku, 3 = Mi, 0 = Rei), so publishing this chapter today was really a stroke of serendipity, especially considering what Kumiko and Reina are dealing with. Quite the exciting resolution, eh?

Also, I'm surprised a particular reference during the Gym battle is still relevant, since I wrote this chapter many weeks earlier. Man, manga arcs are quite long, aren't they? Can't believe I didn't have to change that shout-out between then and now. See if you can identify which anime/manga the nicknames of the Gym Leader's Pokémon are from!

As a side note, a friendly reminder that I'm now publishing chapters about 9 hours earlier (Wednesday in most time zones) due to personal reasons. Stay tuned for any further personal updates!


	56. Chapter 56: RYDEEN - Part 2

Seeing Reina's stunning victory against the Gym Leader, Kumiko was left awestruck by how amazing her fiancee was in her battles. As Reina stepped up to receive her Gym Badge, Kumiko knew she would soon need to match her fiancee's greatness once the time came to challenge the Gym Leader herself. After all, Reina would not expect anything less.

Once Reina came back, she gave Kumiko a kiss right on the lips. Kumiko assumed this romantic gesture was meant to both encourage her and for Reina to celebrate her own victory, but she couldn't help but think Reina also did it to spite Shuichi. From the corner of her eye, Kumiko could see Reina triumphantly glaring at Shuichi as he squirmed uncomfortably in his ice block, confirming that hypothesis.

After Reina broke off their kiss, she hugged Kumiko tightly while leaning up to whisper in her ear. With each word, the repeated impacts of soft air from Reina's breath sent shivers down Kumiko's spine, scaring yet entrancing her. "Go on, my love. I know you can do this."

My love. Even though she and Reina had repeatedly declared their love to each other many times before, this was the first time Kumiko had ever heard her fiancee call her like that. Her cheeks quickly turning red upon comprehending what Reina just told her, Kumiko could only nod as Reina let go, patting her on the shoulder as a sign of reassurement. That one gesture steadied Kumiko's nerves more than anything else.

Ready to take on her upcoming challenge with newfound confidence, Kumiko went over to the challenger's side of the battlefield right as the Gym Leader finished healing his Pokémon. Once the referee stepped up onto the podium, the Gym Leader sent out his first Pokémon. "Denki, shine like the north star!"

Seeing the Gym Leader's Amped Toxtricity emerge from its Pokéball, Kumiko realized she didn't have many options to deal with its unique typing. Since she thought some of her team members would be more suited for facing off against the Gym Leader's other Pokémon, this left Kumiko with few choices. Considering all of them for a short moment, Kumiko made her final decision. "Trip, on my count!"

"Battle begin!" the referee announced after Trip was on the battlefield. Unlike Reina with Demi, Kumiko was unable to change the conditions she battled in to her advantage, so she went for an all-out assault right from the start. Despite his small size, Trip was easily one of the strongest Pokémon she had in terms of raw strength, which meant Kumiko considered him to be the best choice for leading her Gym battles.

"Use Dragon Rush directly in front of you!" Kumiko instructed. Dragon-type energy cloaking his body, Trip then blitzed towards the Gym Leader's Toxtricity in a straight line. The speed at which Trip ran was enough to make his target stagger backwards upon impact, but the Gym Leader's Toxtricity managed to stand up even after that powerful hit.

"Overdrive!" Plucking the organs on its chest, the Gym Leader's Toxtricity sent electrically-charged soundwaves coursing through the battlefield in all directions. Due to him lacking the sense of sight, Trip was only able to dodge some of the pulses upon hearing Kumiko's orders. The tips of Trip's fur lightly singed from brushes with electricity, Kumiko was nonetheless impressed he had managed to react in time.

"Turn and run 45 degrees to the left, and go for a Crunch!" Darting ahead again, Trip swiftly sunk his jaws into the right arm of the Gym Leader's Toxtricity. Flailing its arm around in an attempt to get Trip off it, the Gym Leader's Toxtricity howled in pain, light streams of electricity flickering through its body uncontrollably. Thinking of a way his Toxtricity could hurt Trip without harming itself, the Gym Leader found a solution.

"Use Thunderbolt, but don't fire it out!" Amplifying the voltage of its charge, the Gym Leader's Toxtricity electrified its entire body, causing Trip to be shocked as well. Seeing Trip trying his best to hang on even as he was constantly being electrocuted, Kumiko was worried about his condition. As she thought of how Trip could recover from this, Kumiko remembered something Reina once told her.

Hoping Reina's advice could work in this context, Kumiko then realized that leap of faith wasn't even necessary at all. With Reina being the person she trusted the most, Kumiko innately knew she could believe whatever her fiancee said. By now, any second-guessing just came from her own insecurities. "Add a Thunder Fang to your Crunch!"

About to fall off the Gym Leader's Toxtricity after being on the end of its current, Trip instead bit back with double the force upon hearing Kumiko's words. His own teeth coursing with electricity, Trip's Thunder Fang acted as a lightning-rod for the charge the Gym Leader's Toxtricity was emitting, sapping the figurative juice out of its attack.

This element-absorbing technique also had the side effect of redirecting all that electricity to Trip's teeth, powering-up his own attack. Though its own Electric typing meant it was resistant to Electric-type moves, the raw amount of damage didn't stop the Gym Leader's Toxtricity from being on the receiving end of a world of hurt. Not letting go even as he was being shaken around, Trip's bite only softened once he was sure his target was unconscious.

"Toxtricity is unable to battle." As the Gym Leader recalled his own Pokémon, Kumiko did the same to Trip as well. While Reina's advice had worked wonders in turning the tide, it was obvious to Kumiko that Trip had already been through a lot during this battle, so she decided to give him a rest.

"Chili, let's have some great days!" With the Gym Leader sending out his Pom-Pom Oricorio, Kumiko already had a counter for it in mind after seeing Reina's battle earlier. Determined to exploit her opponent's weaknesses and prove her worth to her fiancee, Kumiko was confident with her choice of who would battle next.

"Mitsuke, don't hesitate anymore!" Though he wasn't a straight-up attacker, Mitsuke's strengths would definitely prove to be useful in this fight. Using a Grass-type Pokémon against a Flying-type seemed like an elaborate form of suicide, but Kumiko was confident Mitsuke was able to avoid any attacks coming his way, and deal out his own brand of damage in turn.

"Use Hurricane!" A spiral of wind whipping up around him, Mitsuke then sent it flying towards the Gym Leader's Oricorio. Drawing on what she observed during Reina's fight with it, Kumiko knew the Gym Leader's Oricorio needed solid ground in order to execute its attacks through dances. It would be impossible to gain stable footing in the air, so Kumiko planned to cut off all avenues of attack for the Gym Leader's Oricorio through Mitsuke's Hurricane.

As the Hurricane sucked up the Gym Leader's Oricorio, Kumiko saw it using its wings to try and stabilize itself amidst the strong winds. Despite its attempts to pull off a dance in midair, any movements the Gym Leader's Oricorio made were restricted by the surrounding air currents. With it being trapped, Kumiko thought her opponent had no way of attacking anymore until the Gym Leader issued his next command. "Air Slash!"

Slamming its wings together, the Gym Leader's Oricorio produced a blade of air which pierced through the Hurricane, completely destroying it in the process. Barely avoiding the attack by floating out of the way, Mitsuke finally descended closer to the ground again after the Air Slash had run its course. Looking at Kumiko for a hint on what to do next, it seemed Mitsuke was just as confused as his Trainer was.

With this mid-battle revelation, Kumiko was sent right back to square one. The main strategy she was hoping to rely on had fallen into disarray, as the Gym Leader revealed he already had a counter in mind. Gritting her teeth, Kumiko was now forced to rethink how she would approach this match.

Switching out Mitsuke for another one of her team members would only serve to derail the rest of her strategies, so that clearly wasn't an option. This meant the only choice left for Kumiko was to change up her existing tactics for a better chance at winning. Her mind racing to find a way she could salvage the current situation, Kumiko then realized she forgot something.

When she had initially thought out the strategies she would be using in her upcoming battles, the thought of using Z-Moves had slipped Kumiko's mind for some reason. With none of them playing any part in her plans, Kumiko decided now was as good a time as any to use one.

Inserting her Grassium Z into her Z-Power Ring, Kumiko then let the sensation of flowing energy take over her. Feeling her body move through a funky dance, Kumiko mused how ironic it was that her plan to defeat the Gym Leader's Oricorio involved what it did best. Completing her routine, Kumiko thrust her hand out at Mitsuke, who then proceeded to use the Z-Move on his opponent.

The resulting impact launching the Gym Leader's Oricorio into the air, Kumiko decided to follow that up with another Hurricane from Mitsuke. Those two moves combined prolonged the time the Gym Leader's Oricorio was airborne, preventing it from dancing at all. However, the damage they dealt was already enough to knock it out anyways, and the Gym Leader's Oricorio limply fell to the floor once the Hurricane ended.

"Oricorio is unable to battle." the referee announced. Having to improvise quite a fair bit during the last two battles, Kumiko could only hope the remaining three matches could be more straightforward in terms of general strategy. With no way to outmatch the Gym Leader's other Pokémon with either raw power or other methods, Kumiko withdrew Mitsuke as the Gym Leader sent out his third Pokémon.

"Enel, let's dream on!" Despite having seen Reina's battle with it, the Gym Leader's Eelektross was one of the Pokémon Kumiko didn't have a plan for. All her team membering being saved for future battles or having battled their share already, Kumiko settled on who to use through the process of elimination.

"Orpheus, let's raise hell!" After sending him out, Kumiko internally remarked that this would be the first battle in a long while where Orpheus wouldn't be Mega Evolved. Wanting to save that chance for Sparkle during her match later on, Kumiko reasoned Orpheus was now strong enough to hold his own without Mega Evolution.

"Use Close Combat!" Quickly dashing forward, Orpheus then unleashed a series of swift sword strikes at the Gym Leader's Eelektross, all of them hitting with unrivalled force and accuracy at such a close distance. However, this rapid chain of attacks left Orpheus momentarily exhausted, allowing his opponent to take advantage and counter at close range.

"Crunch!" Slithering around Orpheus, the jaws of the Gym Leader's Eelektross soon found their way into his torso from behind. With no way to get at his opponent from that angle, Orpheus was now left yelping in pain as Kumiko looked on. It wasn't until a while later that Kumiko realized Orpheus didn't need to attack the Gym Leader's Eelektross if he wanted to break free.

"Teleport away!" Disappearing from between the maw of the Gym Leader's Eelektross, Orpheus materialized a short distance away. Facepalming at how she didn't think of that earlier, Kumiko's thoughts soon returned to the battle at hand. Narrowly avoiding disaster just moments before, Kumiko couldn't afford to be distracted by her own shortcomings. She had to make up for them in battle.

"Try a Psycho Cut this time!" With how Close Combat left Orpheus vulnerable to counterattack, Kumiko decided to switch up her tactics and prevent that from happening again. His arm-blades glowing pink with Psychic-type energy, Orpheus launched himself forward and sliced the Gym Leader's Eelektross twice. Immediately after landing his hits, Orpheus quickly jumped back to prevent himself from getting hit.

"Get close and land a Thunder Punch!" Though Orpheus had managed to avoid the pitfalls of remaining close to his opponent this time, that didn't mean he was automatically safe from any attacks the Gym Leader's Eelektross threw his way. As his opponent closed in, Orpheus hoped Kumiko had a trick up her sleeve to get out of this. Fortunately for him, Kumiko was already at the ready with something in mind.

"Counter with your own Thunder Punch!" Both arm-blades crackling with electricity this time, Orpheus managed to block the attack coming his way from the Gym Leader's Eelektross. As both attacks were Electric-type, they cancelled each other out. This allowed Orpheus to escape unscathed from what would have been a strong attack, though this applied to the Gym Leader's Eelektross as well.

Their Pokémon back where they started, Kumiko now had a better idea of how to deal with the Gym Leader's Eelektross. She judged that it was possibly a couple of hits away from fainting based on its movements, or possibly even one if Orpheus used a well-placed Close Combat. Kumiko weighed the pros and cons of both options in her mind, and came to a conclusion. "Finish this with a Close Combat!"

Heeding his Trainer's orders, Orpheus made a run for the Gym Leader's Eelektross again. Before it could react in time, Orpheus' arm-blades had already done their damage, landing blow after blow as they repeatedly extended and retracted in quick succession. Once he finished his attack, Orpheus saw that the Gym Leader's Eelektross was in no shape to respond, having already crumpled to the floor.

"Eelektross is unable to battle!" the referee announced. With another one of the Gym Leader's Pokémon now soundly knocked out, Kumiko was relieved she got through this match without much trouble. The two remaining Pokémon she had to face were the ones she had the most detailed strategies for battling against, so Kumiko was now more confident in her prospects.

"Kakashi, don't leave a silhouette!" After the Gym Leader sent out his Zebstrika, Kumiko recalled Orpheus and prepared to send out her next team member. Despite Reina countering it using her own methods, Kumiko was confident who she sent out soon could evenly match and possibly surpass its speed.

"Marcato, hit it hard!" Doing a twirl as he sprang out from his Pokéball, Kumiko's starter Pokémon looked around the battlefield before coming face-to-face with his opponent. With not a moment to waste, Kumiko gave out her first order to Marcato, though this time with a twist.

"Use Second Valve!" Upon hearing Kumiko say that out loud, Shuichi immediately recognized it as the nickname he gave Marcato's sunlight trick after their battle yesterday. As Shuichi smiled in relief at Kumiko remembering the name, his good mood was immediately cut short by Reina glaring daggers at him. Squirming reflexively in his ice block, Shuichi turned his attention back to the battle, not wanting to be further traumatized by Reina.

On the battlefield, Marcato's body was currently flowing with the rush of energy from absorbing so much concentrated sunlight, causing a faint green aura to glow around him. With this trick increasing Marcato's speed to extreme levels, Kumiko was now ready to face the Gym Leader's Zebstrika head-on. "Fire out a Solar Beam!"

Rapidly charging up a sphere of sunlight in front of his right arm, Marcato then blitzed forward before appearing right in front of the Gym Leader's Zebstrika. Firing out his loaded Solar Beam at point-blank range, Marcato's powerful attack sent his opponent flying backwards, though the Gym Leader's Zebstrika managed to dig its hind legs into the ground and stall itself.

"Wild Charge!" Cloaking its body in electricity, the Gym Leader's Zebstrika rebounded forward right at Marcato, charging towards him at a frightening pace. However, Marcato's own speed boost meant that dodging the incoming attack was like second nature for him. With the movements of the Gym Leader's Zebstrika looking sluggish from his perspective, Marcato had already moved behind it in an instant.

"Use Solar Beam again!" Even as the Gym Leader's Zebstrika did a full 180 degree turn on its front legs to face him, Marcato already finished charging his attack. Aiming his right arm directly at his opponent, Marcato blasted the Gym Leader's Zebstrika with a beam of concentrated sunlight straight at its face, knocking it back a second time.

By now, the Gym Leader was simultaneously impressed and terrified at Marcato's insane speed. There had been very few cases where an opponent's Pokémon had managed to outspeed his Zebstrika, but this was the first time it was by such a significant margin. Being used to having the speed advantage when fighting with his Zebstrika, the Gym Leader was now on the receiving end of the non-stop blitzes he frequently dealt out.

"Discharge!" If his Zebstrika couldn't keep up speed-wise, then the Gym Leader had to negate that advantage for his opponent's Pokémon. Slamming down its front legs, the Gym Leader's Zebstrika sent out a wave of electricity in all directions, which Marcato quickly dodged by jumping upwards. Turning before he shot out another Solar Beam, Marcato propelled himself right towards the Gym Leader's Zebstrika.

"Alright! One more Solar Beam!" Ready to deal the finishing blow, Marcato spun himself around again before charging up another attack. Fresh off of finishing its Discharge, the Gym Leader's Zebstrika had no time to dodge what would soon come. Using the electricity produced from Wild Charge to cloak itself in a last-ditch effort, that proved futile as the Gym Leader's Zebstrika was swiftly knocked out.

"Zebstrika is unable to battle." the referee announced. The Gym Leader down to one Pokémon now, Kumiko withdrew Marcato in preparation for her final match. While she had already planned out this switch in advance, Kumiko knew from experience that Marcato wasn't in any shape to continue fighting after using Second Valve. Not wanting to place any more strain on his body, Kumiko thought Marcato deserved a break.

"Misaka, pass your judgement!" When the Gym Leader's Vikavolt appeared on the battlefield, Kumiko took a deep breath. This was the Pokémon Reina had the most trouble with, so Kumiko naturally felt nervous about fighting it. Hoping the plan she thought of could hold up, Kumiko threw out her Pokéball.

"Sparkle, it's your turn!" Knowing that she had the most raw power when it came to ranged attacks, Sparkle was Kumiko's choice for fighting against the Gym Leader's Vikavolt. Mega Evolving her, Kumiko was confident Sparkle's increased firepower in this state was strong enough to counter the Gym Leader's Vikavolt.

"Thunderbolt!" Shooting out a beam of lightning from the jewel on her head, the coat of wool on Sparkle's back crackled with electricity as she did so. Kumiko saw earlier that the Gym Leader's Vikavolt used its naturally-generated electricity to power up its Flash Cannon, so she thought an Electric-type attack would mess up that process.

"Bug Buzz!" Knowing that using a Railgun now would only lead to failure, the Gym Leader decided to go for a safer option instead. A low hum coming from its wings, the Gym Leader's Vikavolt sent the resulting vibrations at Sparkle. While her movement speed already wasn't spectacular by any measure, the extra weight Sparkle gained from all the wool on her back slowed her down even more, making her unable to dodge the incoming attack.

Being directly hit by the Bug Buzz knocked Sparkle back, though her bulk prevented too much damage from being done. Coming to a stop after sliding a short distance, Sparkle looked none the worse for wear once she regained stable footing. Relieved that it wasn't one of those powerful Railguns which hit Sparkle, Kumiko was thankful she could continue fighting the Gym Leader's Vikavolt on even footing.

"Use Thunderbolt again!" Not wanting the Gym Leader's Vikavolt to fire out a Railgun, Kumiko reckoned the only way was to disrupt any opportunity it had for doing so. Even as the second attack hit its mark, the Gym Leader's Vikavolt simply responded by firing out another Bug Buzz, pushing Sparkle back yet again. This made Kumiko realize the entire battle was starting to turn into a back-and-forth.

Since Electric-type moves weren't as effective on Electric-types such as the Gym Leader's Vikavolt, Sparkle's Thunderbolts only dealt an average amount of damage despite their overwhelming base power. Conversely, the Bug Buzzes of the Gym Leader's Vikavolt were strong, but Sparkle's defenses were strong enough to tank any hits coming her way without much trouble.

With both sides dealing as much damage as the other, it was now a race to see who would fall first. Seeing as she didn't want to lose the match, Kumiko needed to find a way she could break this loop. However, the only way of doing that was to use another move instead of Thunderbolt, which obviously ran the risk of allowing the Gym Leader's Vikavolt to successfully charge up and use a Railgun.

As there wasn't any other way she could think of, Kumiko decided to gamble on the chance that one of Sparkle's other moves could knock out the Gym Leader's Vikavolt in a single shot. If she couldn't, then Sparkle would definitely suffer the same fate from the Railgun inevitably coming her way. Finally making up her mind, Kumiko was filled with certainty about what to do next. "Sparkle, use Dragon Pulse!"

Even as the Gym Leader seized this opportunity to have his Vikavolt charge up a Railgun, Sparkle's Dragon Pulse had finished forming in front of her mouth. Expelling it at her opponent, all the Dragon-type energy Sparkle was spewing out quickly overwhelmed the Gym Leader's Vikavolt. Once Sparkle's attack ended, the battle's final results were immediately apparent.

"Vikavolt is unable to battle. The challenger emerges victorious!" the referee announced. Once she recalled Sparkle, Kumiko went up to the Gym Leader and prepared to receive her badge. As she walked over, Kumiko wondered what Reina thought of her Gym Battle. Was she proud of Kumiko's resounding victory, or did she expect better?

"Congratulations on winning. For winning against your sixth Gym, you get the Aeolian Badge." Presenting her with the metallic token, Kumiko took the Gym Badge from the Gym Leader's hand. "Speaking of which, which Gym are you heading to next-"

Whatever the Gym Leader was about to say had been interrupted by the familiar sound of Teleportation. Looking in its direction, Kumiko saw that a Gallade had materialized in the middle of the battlefield. Confused as to who its Trainer was or why it was here, Kumiko could only watch as the Gallade went over to where the Gym Leader was. Standing in silence for a few moments, it wasn't until a few moments later that the Gym Leader nodded and continued to address Kumiko.

"Excuse me for a moment. I've got something important to discuss here." Upon hearing the Gym Leader's tone becoming more serious, Kumiko immediately got the message. Going back to where Reina and Shuichi were standing at the sidelines, Kumiko noticed that the Gym Leader had motioned for his girlfriend to come over. A short while later, the two of them were Teleported away by the Gallade.

"Kumiko, do you have any idea what happened back there?" Reina asked her fiancee, who shook her head in dumbfoundment. Seeing Kumiko's lackluster reaction, Reina could only guess that there were things afoot which went far beyond their heads.

A problem which required a Gym Leader's presence was certainly nothing good indeed.

* * *

"Miss Tanaka, it appears everyone we summoned has now arrived. Would you please have the pleasure of taking over?"

After Taki took one last glance, he shifted his gaze towards Asuka. The room they were in being a bit on the small side, it was starting to get cramped with so many people present. However, it was the only room League headquarters could offer up on short notice, so they had no other choice.

"I understand." Asuka replied, turning her attention towards the assembled crowd. There were a few faces she didn't recognize, but it wasn't something she was concerned about. As long as they could pull their weight, Asuka could care less about where they came from.

"Good afternoon, everyone." she began, her crisp tone of voice drawing the audience's attention. "I suspect all of you are wondering why we called you over out of the blue. As everything was only finalized this morning and we don't have much time, the sudden invitation was the best we could do. Simply put, the League's got a hot-button issue to deal with: what's going on with Houkago Records."

"Wait, isn't that the record label HTT created to manage their brand?" Natsuki asked. While she had been abruptly whisked here along with Yuuko and Nozomi, Natsuki was surprised that Mizore had tagged along as well. She suspected it was because Mizore wasn't about to let go of Nozomi anytime soon. "What's that got to do with us? Are they throwing a special concert we're invited to or something?"

"Let me continue, Nakagawa-chan." Asuka chided her aide. "To oversimplify things, this all started a year ago when Aoi-chan was tasked with investigating the speed metal band Death Devil. Because of their machinations, Ultra Beasts began to appear around the Opéra region, which poor Aoi-chan was roped into fighting off on her own for six months on end."

"Unfortunately, we were unable to apprehend any members of Death Devil due to situational circumstances." Asuka pressed on, ignoring Aoi's reaction. "After Aoi-chan's heroic exploits in fending off the Ultra Beasts, nobody paid any attention to Death Devil until we saw a familiar name pop up on Houkago Records' invoices."

"Those invoices were for the purchase of wormhole creation equipment from the Aether Foundation, an organization in Alola which first discovered the Ultra Beasts using that technology." Aoi clarified further. "As for the name we noticed, it was that of Sawako Yamanaka, alias Catherine of Death Devil."

"So what you're saying is that Houkago Records acts as a front for Death Devil's activities, and they're planning to repeat what happened with the Ultra Beasts here. Am I correct?" Tomoe recounted. Despite being one of the only people to know about this meeting in advance, Tomoe was still very much in the dark about most details.

"Not quite." Asuka answered. "That was what set off our alarms in the first place, but we suspect it's only one part of an even larger plan. A while ago, a little birdie told me HTT was up to some fishy business involving the Messa di Voce. For those of you who aren't history buffs, it's a device used by an ancient civilization to harness the melodies sung by the Mythical Pokémon Meloetta as a form of mass mind control."

"Ultra Beasts and Mythical Pokémon… just what could HTT's end goal be here?" Mamiko mused, processing what she just heard. As her friend Izumi dealt with Ultra Beasts for a living, Mamiko considered asking her for more details about them. Each thing she learnt making the situation more and more ominous, Mamiko needed as much information as she could get. Things were not looking good.

"We're not sure, but it appears to be starting soon." Kaori picked up where Asuka left off. "After we discovered Ms. Yamanaka's name on the invoices, Haruka volunteered to periodically check up on Houkago Records and make sure they weren't up to anything suspicious. What she reported back matched our own findings, but she hasn't been in contact with us since her last visit two days ago. We suspect HTT are now onto us while expediting their plans, while Haruka herself may be compromised."

"Compromised? But how?" Mirai Sezaki was shocked by what she just heard. The idea that a member of the Elite Four could have been subdued was completely unthinkable to the Eigve City Gym Leader. "Don't tell me they've somehow been amassing powerful Pokémon all this time as well!"

"We sadly have no clue either, which brings us to our final point." Asuka pushed up her glasses. "Aoi-chan and I ran into three members of HTT at Termezzo Town two days ago, where they were apparently collecting calibration data from the Ultra Wormhole which appeared there. They barely managed to escape with the help of a Teleporting Pokémon, but the fact that HTT now has the necessary information to control an Ultra Wormhole means they can activate one at any time."

"With both the ability to unleash Ultra Beasts on the region and the strength to defeat even our precious Haruka-chan, HTT's got a lot of unregulated firepower on their side." Her glasses now shining eerily, everyone took that as a sign Asuka was getting serious. "That's why all of you are here now. To prevent that metaphorical powder keg of unrestricted power from exploding and rescue Haruka-chan, we're going to raid the headquarters of Houkago Records tomorrow morning."

"Wait, isn't it illegal to punish someone before they actually commit a crime?" Nozomi interjected, pointing out the hole in Asuka's plan. "If all of us suddenly appeared out of nowhere and began besieging their building, we could cause a huge controversy. Especially with the Gym Leaders and Elite Four involved, that's definitely going to make a lot of people angry."

"We've got that covered." Asuka swiftly replied. "Seeing as Death Devil is still designated as a criminal organization, and one of their members is explicitly helping HTT acquire dangerous goods, we definitely have good reason to stage a raid. Besides, they've also captured Haruka-chan on a perfectly authorized visit, which counts as a kidnapping-slash-hostage situation by any measure."

"I see." Nozomi noted. With how Asuka framed the disappearance of her mentor, she was now determined to help with Haruka's rescue. The combined strength of three Elite Four members, their aides, and all the Gym Leaders plus a few special guests was definitely more than enough to oppose what HTT had up their sleeves.

"Now that we've got our context out of the way, let's get into the details of the operation." Asuka began. "While Gotou-kun and Riko-chan hand out the dossiers we've compiled on HTT, here's what you need to know about the layout of their headquarters…"

* * *

"Reina, what do you think we should have for lunch today?" Kumiko asked her fiancee as they exited the Gym building. "I saw several restaurants when we were walking here earlier. Should we take a look at them again, or go over to another part of the city?"

"As long as we're both happy with the food, I don't really mind." Reina answered, then glared menacingly at Shuichi, whose block of ice was being levitated by Eurydice again. "But first, we've got a load to ditch. Give me five minutes and we'll be free to go wherever we want."

Sending out Ai, Reina then continued the process of defrosting Shuichi as Kumiko looked on. While he waited for the rest of his body to be freed from the ice block, Shuichi's eyes caught notice of something happening. "Wait, what is that?"

About to dismiss his shouts as nothing more than incoherent babbling, Reina then heard the sound of many footsteps coming their way from where Shuichi was gazing towards.

Looking in that direction herself, Reina saw a small crowd of people and Pokémon coming their way. The mob was led by a magenta-eyed young woman with scruffy brown hair tied into two short twintails, who wore a kunoichi outfit with blue highlights and a familiar emblem emblazoned on its left chest area.

Raising up the loudspeaker she carried in her right hand, the young woman began speaking. "Kumiko Oumae, Reina Kousaka. As my friends at HTT want to meet with you, I, Jun Suzuki, will personally escort you to the headquarters of our record label. Failure to comply will result in you being forcibly taken there by Bomber Squad, my personal hit team. Resistance is futile. Prepare to face the music."

* * *

A/N: Moral of the story: if you're doing something shady, don't put it on your invoices. You'll thank yourself for that later.


	57. Chapter 57: Waltzing Matilda

Encountering HTT again right after defeating a Gym was not how Reina expected her day to go.

Staring at the crowd of people and Pokémon in front of her, Reina wasn't sure why she and Kumiko kept running into the band wherever they went. First at Termezzo Town, now right here. Reina suspected the band had some way of knowing their exact location, but she brushed that thought off upon realizing something which confused her even more.

"If the rest of HTT wanted to simply meet us, then why did you bring such a large amount of people and Pokémon here?" Reina asked Jun. Something clearly didn't add up about this entire situation. "You could've invited us to the headquarters of HTT's record label normally, without all the fuss you're creating right now. Are you expecting us to fight you off for some reason."

"Close, but not quite." Jun replied, her voice echoing through the loudspeaker she carried. "You see, it mostly stems from how you two treated Mio-senpai and Ritsu-senpai back at Termezzo Town. They were just trying to make sure our plan went smoothly, but you two had to mess around and cause them to nearly get caught by the League. After that fiasco, we couldn't bring ourselves to trust you at all."

"That's because if they actually encountered an Ultra Beast there, they would have gotten themselves killed!" Kumiko shouted, surprising Reina with her sudden display of intensity. "Termezzo Town was already half-destroyed by Ultra Beasts when we saw your friends, so they were literally walking into a warzone! Even Reina and myself wouldn't have survived if it wasn't for the help of other powerful Trainers!"

"Really? You think we don't know that?" Jun scoffed at Kumiko, who could only stare in disbelief at how lightly she was taking those words. "We certainly were aware of how dangerous it was to enter Termezzo Town with an Ultra Wormhole active, but we decided our plan was worth the risk of doing so. Now that I've finished making my point here, I'm going to ask you two again: are you going to willingly come with us or not?"

"With everything you've prepared for us here," Reina eyed the people and Pokémon assembled behind Jun. "It's clear you don't trust us at all, so we're respectfully declining your offer. Since you've already pushed our goodwill when you entered guns blazing, there's no way things will end smoothly. Besides, you still haven't told us what HTT wants from us. "

"Heh, that's not important. We've got the bigger stick here, so you're going to come with us one way or another." Jun replied, a smirk on her face. "Why don't I show you what I'm talking about? HOSHIMI, please use a Thousand Arrows. Don't aim directly at our targets, though. We're only scaring them for now, not commiting mass murder."

"Wait, isn't that the signature move of-" Before Reina could finish her sentence, a salvo of green projectiles rained down from above, fired from somewhere within Jun's entourage. As Ai was already out, Reina barely had enough time to have her block the incoming attack with a Pollen Puff. When a single arrow shredded through the clump of condensed pollen, Reina was left speechless.

Thankfully, neither she nor Kumiko had been hurt by that unprompted assault (Reina could care less about Shuichi's condition). As the dust began to settle, something began moving towards the three of them. Even with her view becoming clearer, Reina was still baffled by what walked out.

In front of them stood a metallic mannequin carrying a bow in its right hand and an arrow in its left, but what stood out was a purple wig fashioned into a ponytail on top of its 'head' and black-rimmed glasses in front of its 'eyes'. If Reina had to guess, it was some sort of advanced robot.

"Like our little toy here?" Jun asked, her face widening into a full-fledged grin. "This is the latest android from Kotobuki Industries, part of the conglomerate run by Mugi-senpai's family. I'm not sure about the details myself, but their battling styles are copied from various Trainers from Seisho using a special method, which gives them the ability to use Pokémon moves. Presenting: the Stage Dolls!"

"Sparkle, Thunderbolt!" Kumiko called out, having already sent out and Mega Evolved Sparkle while Jun was talking. Since robots definitely needed electricity to function properly, Kumiko reasoned she could take out the Stage Doll in front of her by overloading it with a powerful jolt from Sparkle. A bolt of electricity arced towards the Stage Doll, but it simply took the voltage while standing still, as if nothing had happened to it.

"You thought a simple attack would take out our best shot? Think again." With how things were unfolding, Jun was becoming more confident about this scenario's outcome. "We've only got nine of these Stage Dolls, but their combined strength is more than enough to defeat a member of the Elite Four. Why, they've already done that two days ago, so the sky's the limit now!"

With the bow-wielding Stage Doll retreating back into the crowd, Jun issued her ultimatum. "After seeing our little demonstration there, I'm going to give you two one last chance: are you going to come with us of your own free will, or are we going to make you come with us?"

"That's obvious, isn't it?" Reina bluntly replied, her signature iciness going into overdrive. "With all the stops you've pulled out to convince us, you've overstayed your welcome here. If you're that willing to show us how determined you are to the extent of threatening us, then you clearly don't mean well. I'm sorry, but we're not going with you. Not now, not ever."

"And there goes your final opportunity to surrender." Jun announced, cracking her knuckles. The current situation was exactly what Sawa-chan-sensei told her to initially expect. With Kumiko and Reina now dead-set on fighting her, Jun could proceed as planned. "Fine by me. Now that you've flat-out refused our offer, we've got no choice but to take you by force. Bomber Squad, on my mark."

"We're not playing around with you any longer. Kumiko, let's go." Grabbing her fiancee by the hand, Reina proceeded to head in the opposite direction with Kumiko. However, they soon found the road there being guarded by two more Stage Dolls, which were carrying swords this time. As the two metallic mannequins blocked their most immediate path out, Reina was thankful she had an ace up her sleeve.

While Eurydice had previously helped with levitating the ice block Shuichi was trapped in, Reina had recalled her when she began the process of defrosting him just a few moments before. Sending Eurydice out again, Reina latched onto Eurydice's arm along with Kumiko.

Preparing to feel the familiar sensation of Teleportation, Reina was surprised when Eurydice's body simply flickered in and out of existence before quickly returning to normal. As Reina's eyes widened in confusion at what just happened, Jun decided to twist the knife even further.

"Since we know you've got Pokémon who can Teleport, Sawa-chan-sensei took the liberty of giving us some Pokémon with the Ability Arena Trap." Jun informed them from a distance. "When we said we wanted you to come with us, we meant it. Guess there's no way out for you two now! Bomber Squad, let's get this show on the road!"

Hanging back, Jun watched as her personal hit team sprang into action, closing the distance separating them from Kumiko and Reina. While Jun would have loved to send out the Stage Dolls first, her opponents would definitely overwhelm them through strength of numbers and force their way out.

Yui, Azusa, Mio, and Ritsu had all told her to expect a challenge when facing off against the couple, so Jun had brought along enough people and Pokémon to vastly outnumber them. With the advantage of quantity firmly on her side, Jun had maximized her chances of succeeding.

Surveying all the Pokémon heading towards her and Kumiko, Reina estimated there were about a hundred in total. While Reina didn't know how strong they actually were, the abundance of mid-stage Pokémon implied their opponents were at least slightly weaker. If both her and Kumiko's Pokémon could take down ten each, then the only thing left to worry about would be the Stage Dolls.

Taking one last look at Kumiko to make sure they were thinking the same thing, Reina smiled at her before sending out the rest of her Pokémon. Despite having challenged a Gym only several minutes before, all of them were still in good shape and able to battle at full strength. After Mega Evolving Eurydice, Reina saw that everyone on Kumiko's team was also out as well.

"Psyshock!" Reina ordered, telling Eurydice to send Psychic projectiles at their opponents. This was normally a powerful attack, but the sheer number of Pokémon on their opponents' side meant its effectiveness was significantly diluted. With only a few shots striking each Pokémon in the initial vanguard, its total damage was divided between them.

"Hurricane!" Hearing Kumiko's command, Mitsuke whipped up a gale-force whirlwind and fired it out. Despite managing to ensnare more than a few Pokémon heading towards them, Kumiko was surprised when the Hurricane didn't manage to fling their opponents away. Wondering why that was the case, Kumiko then realized all their opponents' Pokémon were at least part Rock-type, so they would naturally be heavier.

"Hey, let me go! I can help, you know!" Shuichi protested, yelling from inside his ice block. After being abandoned by Reina in front of the Gym, Shuichi was surprised he had been completely ignored by everyone, even the people trying to take Kumiko and Reina away. Shuichi couldn't sit by and do nothing when his friend was in danger, but his current circumstances left him in that exact position.

Unfortunately for Shuichi, Kumiko and Reina were far too busy fending off the horde of people and Pokémon to hear what he just said. Sending barrage after barrage of powerful attacks at their opponents, Reina wondered how long it would be before their defenses broke, or if they would even break at all.

Her eyes scanning for a possible gap in the approaching offensive, Reina was shocked when she couldn't find a single flaw in their opponents' formation. Despite how efficiently her and Kumiko's Pokémon were keeping HTT's forces at bay, there always seemed to be even more reinforcements pouring in from all sides, creating the illusion of an impenetrable wall.

When it was put up against wave after wave of opponents, even the top-notch coordination between Kumiko and Reina's Pokémon was starting to reach its limits. One side effect of having a large numerical advantage was the ability to pull exhausted forces from the front and replace them with fresh faces, which HTT used to their utmost advantage against Kumiko and Reina.

While their Pokémon were certainly stronger compared to what HTT could throw at them, the relentless grinding of Kumiko and Reina's teams over time was starting to take its toll. A Close Combat from Orpheus which could previously strike 20 times per second was now only able to hit 18 times in that same period, and the same reduction in move frequency was apparent in all of Kumiko and Reina's Pokémon.

This gradual exhaustion was inevitable when fighting a prolonged battle, which Reina was realizing they were getting trapped in. As the number of Pokémon Kumiko and Reina had couldn't hold a candle compared to how much Pokémon HTT brought to the fight, they didn't have the luxury of being able to recuperate their strength before continuing to battle.

Knowing this war of attrition would eventually result in victory for HTT, Reina needed some way to even the odds in their favour. With little other options for assistance given their current circumstances, Reina was forced to finish what she started just a few moments before.

"Hey you. Help us out here." Telling Ai to use a Sunny Day again, Reina decided to complete the process of defrosting Shuichi, and moved closer to him as Kumiko fended off HTT's Pokémon with her own. While she would have preferred to keep him sealed away in that block of ice for eternity, Reina knew she would need some extra help to successfully fight off everything Jun was throwing at her and Kumiko. Right now, Shuichi was the only person who could do that.

The heat from Ai's passive Fire-type move rapidly melting Shuichi's icy prison, Reina kept one eye on his condition while monitoring how Kumiko was doing with the other. Seeing that her fiancee was barely managing to handle fighting off all of HTT's Pokémon by herself, Reina told the rest of her Pokémon to help Kumiko out. She would have liked to assist Kumiko on the battlefield, but what Reina was doing prevented her from taking a more direct role.

Since he bore witness to everything which had unfolded over these past few minutes, Shuichi was already familiar with the situation at hand. While he wanted to help Kumiko right from the beginning, being involuntarily trapped in a block of ice meant that all Shuichi could do was sit and watch. Now that he was free, Shuichi was about to straighten himself up and go assist his friend when the inevitable happened.

"AAAGGGGHHHHH!" He cried out in pain. Due to his entire body being frozen for the better part of a day, Shuichi's muscles and joints became tense as he tried to move them normally. His sense of touch returning, the aftereffects of remaining still in a cold environment were becoming apparent to Shuichi. As the shock raced all over his body, not even Reina shouting at Shuichi was enough to snap him out of it.

"Hey! What the hell are you doing? We need your help! Get up!" Reina barked, frustrated the first thing Shuichi did upon being freed was cry like a baby. A chill rushing through every fiber of his body, Shuichi collapsed to the ground as the only thing he felt was everything going limp. To make matters worse, a sudden jolt burst through his back, courtesy of Reina kicking him away.

"Pathetic." Reina spat at him. At the very least, she expected Shuichi to put on a show of false bravado and immediately begin fighting against HTT to impress them. Even if all his Pokémon would quickly faint in that effort (which Reina guessed was the most likely outcome), Shuichi would still serve as a distraction for their opponents, buying Kumiko and her several precious moments they could use to regroup.

With Shuichi unable to even pick himself up from the ground, Reina swiftly decided keeping him around was more trouble than it was worth. Sighing to herself, she went over to his side and plucked the five Pokéballs hanging from his belt. Reina figured that if Shuichi couldn't contribute anything at all, then his Pokémon would be slightly more helpful in that regard.

Sending all of Shuichi's Pokémon out, the first thing all of them did was check on their Trainer's condition, worried about how he got himself into this situation. It wasn't until Reina cleared her throat that they even looked in her direction, immediately flinching upon seeing the icy glare in her eyes. Despite only a couple of them having seen her before, all of Shuichi's Pokémon were now completely terrified of Reina.

"Your Trainer is completely useless." Reina began, causing Shuichi's Pokémon to recoil in fear. "Not only is he a coward who won't stand up to defend his friend, but also a whiny brat who can't do what he's told. If you want to prove you're better than your Trainer, then help us. It's definitely much better than having a sorry excuse for a human being like him as your Trainer."

Once Reina finished speaking, Shuichi's Pokémon looked at each other and discussed amongst themselves for a few moments before making a decision. Straightening himself up, Freddy hoisted his Trainer's limp body onto Magnet before they departed along with the rest of their teammates, leaving Reina and Kumiko behind.

"Why, you little…" Reina cursed in their direction, furious at how Shuichi's Pokémon had pledged their loyalty to someone as worthless as him. About to give them a piece of her mind, Reina soon remembered the situation she was in when she saw Trip getting thrown back before rushing into the fray again. Despite her misgivings towards Shuichi, Reina's number-one priority right now was protecting Kumiko and winning.

However, she couldn't just ignore where Shuichi's Pokémon were heading. As they made their way out of the area, Reina was surprised to see that HTT wasn't attacking them at all, and even making way for them in some cases. About to burst a blood vessel at how Shuichi and his Pokémon were getting special treatment, Reina's explosive temper cooled down a bit upon realizing Shuichi wasn't one of HTT's targets, which meant they had no reason to target him.

Gritting her teeth as she watched Shuichi's Pokémon walk free, Reina then noticed a way out opening up behind the route they took. Deciding to seize this opportunity, Reina quickly called Kumiko and their Pokémon over, wanting to get away from HTT's madness as soon as possible. "There's a gap over here. If we're fast enough, we can potentially get away from here."

Nodding at her fiancee, Kumiko was about to recall her Pokémon and make a run for it when she saw a familiar shape making its way through the crowd. The bow-wielding Stage Doll suddenly reappearing in front of her, Kumiko was forced to have Marcato blast a Solar Beam towards it as a distraction. Though the powerful attack managed to hit its mark, the Stage Doll continued to lumber forward, leaving no choice for Kumiko but to engage the enemy.

Meanwhile, things weren't looking so good on Reina's end either. The clear path she had previously spotted had disappeared as quickly as it had been created, now guarded by two more Stage Dolls. Unlike the ones Reina saw earlier, these metallic mannequins were armed with a mace and a knife. With none of her Pokémon close by, Reina was now at the mercy of these two Stage Dolls.

As the mace-wielding Stage Doll leapt forward, Reina saw the murky Dark-type energy of Brutal Swing cloak the tip of its weapon. Bracing for the worst, Reina was saved when Orpheus blocked the attack with his arm-blades, having been sent by Kumiko to protect her. Despite being able to block the blow, it was immediately clear to Reina that Orpheus was struggling with the effort.

"Sparkle, rest for a bit!" Hearing Kumiko's voice ring from across the battlefield, Reina saw Kumiko disengaging Sparkle's Mega Evolution. Instinctively knowing what her fiancee would do next, Reina smiled as Orpheus glowed with the light of Mega Evolution, giving him the power he needed to knock the Stage Doll away.

Launching the metallic mannequin back, Orpheus' rescue of Reina gave Kumiko the time she needed to reach her fiancee along with the rest of their Pokémon. However, even Orpheus' strikes couldn't keep the Stage Doll down for long, and it soon returned with a vengeance. Twirling its mace with surprising dexterity, the Stage Doll was soon joined by all four of its compatriots, and they all began charging at Kumiko and Reina.

Observing the battle from a safe distance, Jun was pleased everything was now proceeding smoothly again. If Kumiko and Reina successfully made an escape through that gap, there was no telling how much of a setback letting them get away would be to HTT. With everything on the line, they could very well be forced to start from scratch.

As Sawa-chan-sensei ordered her to give the Stage Dolls their first real fight today, Jun didn't bring any of her own Pokémon with her. She was confident enough the Stage Dolls were more than a match for what Kumiko and Reina could offer. Smirking to herself, Jun could see the first signs of exhaustion appearing on the couple's faces and bodies.

Fighting a prolonged battle against so many opponents had clearly taken both a physical and mental toll on Kumiko and Reina. If she kept up this pressure, Jun was sure she could definitely break them after a few more moments. The Stage Dolls' combined assault playing out in front of her, all Jun needed to do was kick back and wait for the couple to eventually give out.

While Reina had been trying to forcibly enlist Shuichi's help, Kumiko had been fighting against HTT all by herself, though with the assistance of her fiancee's Pokémon. Kumiko was able to handle the Pokémon HTT threw at her without much difficulty, but the Stage Dolls' constant intervention meant she was always kept on her toes, unable to catch a break due to their superior strength, durability, and speed.

With the help of Reina's Pokémon, Kumiko managed to fight the bow-wielding Stage Doll and its two sword-carrying accomplices to a stalemate when they appeared, allowing her to focus on dealing with the bulk of HTT's forces. However, the two Stage Dolls which had just cornered Reina now entered the fight as well, and their presence tipped the scales in favour of HTT.

Even with Reina coming back to help her, Kumiko could feel the pressure mounting up on them. The five Stage Dolls were all forces to be reckoned with, but what made them even more deadly was their ability to retreat back into the safety of numbers. This prevented Kumiko and Reina from getting in a solid hit on the Stage Dolls, as HTT's Pokémon stepped in to intercept any attacks heading in their direction.

"Kumiko, give me all your Z-Crystals!" Reina called out, currently being overwhelmed by five Alolan Graveler and the knife-wielding Stage Doll. Frantically digging around in her bag, Kumiko was confused at why Reina needed all of her Z-Crystals. Wasn't using a single Z-Crystal the limit of what someone could normally handle?

Shrugging those thoughts off, Kumiko reasoned to herself that Reina must have had a good reason for asking her, and finally fished out the three Z-Crystals she had. As she ran over to Reina's side, any of their opponents' Pokémon standing between them were quickly washed away by a Surf from Handel.

"Here!" Kumiko exclaimed as she handed her Z-Crystals over to Reina. Immediately slipping the Grassium Z into her Z-Power Ring, Reina thrust her hands out at Ai in desperation, having her use the Grass-type Z-Move. The powerful attack instantly sent the Alolan Graveler previously giving her trouble flying away, but the Stage Doll's metallic exterior had only been slightly scratched even after all that.

Thrusting its knife in the air, the Stage Doll soon rallied its companions around it for one final push, capitalizing on Reina's post Z-Move exhaustion to strike. Despite breathing heavily after having lent her energy to Ai, Reina inserted her Icium Z into her Z-Power Ring, preparing to have Idina use a Z-Move. With how dire the situation was getting, Reina had no choice but to strain herself even more. This was the only way she could see Kumiko and herself getting out of this.

As Kumiko looked on at Reina using her second Z-Move in a row against the Stage Dolls, her face was fraught with disbelief. Not only was her fiancee burning herself out with the amount of effort she was exerting, but Reina also seemed to be sacrificing her own well-being just to give them a chance of escaping. Seeing one of her worst worries playing out, Kumiko couldn't bear to see Reina throw everything away.

"Reina… please don't!" Kumiko cried out in anguish. Though Idina's Z-Move froze the Stage Dolls in their tracks, the metallic mannequins soon broke out with ease and continued attacking the couple's Pokémon. Keeling down in pain, Reina started to feel a throbbing pain emerge in her head once the sensation from using a Z-Move left her. This finally convinced her there was no way they could win here.

"Don't… worry… Kumiko..." Reina assured her fiancee through ragged breaths as she slipped her Farium Z into her Z-Power Ring. Thrusting it out at Demi, Reina knew this would only worsen her condition, but this was the only choice she could make in the moment. "There's… a way… you'll… get… out of… this…"

"Get out of this? But how?" Kumiko asked. Even with Reina using her third Z-Power Move, the Stage Dolls didn't seem to be heavily damaged by it. Once the Stage Dolls recovered, Kumiko could only watch as they began decisively taking out both her own and Reina's Pokémon. As Trip was crushed by a Rock Smash from the mace-wielding Stage Doll, Idina lost consciousness after directly taking a Flame Burst shot by its bow-carrying companion.

"Z… Move… Teleport…" Reina breathed out. At this point, her skin was turning even paler, and her silky black hair had now been tainted by the constant flow of greasy sweat. After seeing her fiancee in this state, Kumiko now knew the dark reason why using more than one Z Move in regular battle was prohibited. "Mega… Evolved… Eurydice… can break through... and push you... away."

"What?" Kumiko blinked, then did a double take at what Reina suggested. From how she worded it, Reina was most likely implying Eurydice could only take one person out of the Arena Trap. "But why me? Shouldn't it be you instead? You're the one who's more exhausted here! I can handle myself!"

"Kumiko, look at me." Having recovered enough strength, Reina stood up even as her knees shook from fatigue. "In a few moments, we're definitely going to get overrun here. There's no chance we can both escape, and Eurydice can only force one person out of the Arena Trap area even with a Mega Evolution-boosted Z-Move. This is the only choice I can make now."

Looking around, Kumiko saw that nearly all of their Pokémon had already fainted, lying on the ground as their remaining teammates futilely tried to defend them from the Stage Dolls. Reina was right, but Kumiko didn't want her to be. Though she knew for certain Reina had told her the truth up-front, Kumiko was hesitant about accepting it. Nothing made her more afraid than the possibility of losing her beloved.

"But Reina, I don't want to let you go!" Kumiko impulsively cried out, tears streaming from her eyes. Faced with the imminent possibility of being forced apart from her fiancee, Kumiko would have given anything to reject the destiny awaiting her. "You're the most special person in my life!"

"I know, Kumiko. Which is why I'm doing this." Reina reassured the girl of her dreams. Stepping forward to embrace her, one of Reina's hands deftly activated all of Kumiko's Pokéballs as she kissed her special one full on the lips, recalling her entire worn-out team. "If I'm really that special in your eyes, then have complete confidence in my ability. No matter what's in front of me, I'll be able to overcome it."

To Kumiko's shock, Reina shoved her back once their heartfelt moment ended, and she was then caught by Eurydice's outstretched palms. Her stream of tears now widening into a full-blown river, Kumiko could only watch through misty eyes as Reina slipped her Psychium Z into her Z-Power Ring. About to call out to her fiancee, Kumiko's words froze in her throat as she heard Reina speak.

"Be free, Kumiko. Now, and always, I love you."

With those nine words, the last thing Kumiko saw before everything in front of her disappeared was Reina collapsing onto the ground in utter exhaustion, now completely at the mercy of the Stage Dolls and HTT. As that sight etched itself into Kumiko's mind, she could only scream out one word into the void.

"RRRRRRRREEEEEEEEIIIIIIIINNNNNNNNAAAAAAAA!"

* * *

"Sawa-chan-sensei, why haven't Ui and Nodoka-chan come back yet? I thought you said they only needed an hour or two to finish up their jobs."

Lounging around in a comfy chair, Yui Hirasawa looked up at her mentor with a curious gaze. When Sawako had called them all to Houkago Records' headquarters for a band meeting earlier this morning, she had given them all their missions for the day. Yui's task was to rest up in anticipation for what would happen soon, which she was currently in the middle of doing when Sawako came in.

"I'm not sure, Yui-chan." Sawako answered. "But I really don't hope they've landed themselves in any hot water. We've already had to accelerate our plans ever since what happened two days ago, and it's already a minor miracle we've got everything we need to pull the next phase off. Aggh, can someone give me a break here?"

As if on cue, Ui Hirasawa appeared out of nowhere, having been Teleported back to headquarters by a Kadabra she borrowed. Dusting off her yellow kunoichi outfit, Ui looked at Sawako and her older sister. Despite seeing that she had rematerialized in the middle of their conversation, Ui proceeded to give them her report, knowing she had already captured their attention.

"Ms. Sawako, big sis. I'm back! Everything went smoothly on my end, so there's nothing to worry about." Ui announced with a smile, then looked around the room. "Wait, where's Nodoka? I'd thought she would've already been back by now, given that we both needed to hit up the same number of places. Do you two know what's happened to her?"

"That's what we were just discussing right now, Ui-chan." Sawako clarified. "If I remember correctly, Nodoka seems to have one less place on her list, so she should've been the first one to return. Wait, now that I think of it, wasn't one of her destinations-"

Whatever Sawako wanted to say next was immediately cut off by Nodoka Manabe Teleporting into a room, clutching onto her borrowed Xatu for dear life. Seeing that she was breathing heavily, the other three women were concerned with what Nodoka had been through, but it was Yui who spoke first.

"Nodoka-chan, are you alright?" Yui asked her childhood friend. She noticed that Nodoka's red kunoichi outfit had been slightly charred around the edges, giving the room a slight burnt smell. "Your glasses seem to have a bit of soot on their lenses. Here, let me give them a wipe."

As Yui plucked the spectacles off Nodoka's head and began to wipe them with the hem of her shirt, Nodoka smiled warmly at her friend before giving her report. "Yeah, but just barely. Right before I was about to leave my last stop at League headquarters, I got spotted by several people who recognized me as part of HTT. Fortunately, I managed to lead them away from the area I was assigned to, so our secret's still safe."

"Thank goodness. You nearly gave me a heart attack there." Sawako breathed a sigh of relief, happy everything was still on track. "If the League discovered what we were doing back there, then we'd have even more to deal with! And that's on top of everything we've got on our plate right now!"

"Don't worry about that, Ms. Sawako. It seems everything will be going as planned." Nodoka reassured her former teacher as she put her glasses back on. "From what I saw at the League, everyone there looked like they were in a hurry. Our capture of Ms. Ogasawara definitely got their attention. Other than another emergency we don't know about, there's nothing which could send the League into such a frenzy."

"Well, then I guess the jig's up. We're definitely going to get raided in the next few days or so. Possibly even tomorrow." Sawako mused. "But thanks to you and Ui-chan, we've already got our distractions in place. That should set them back by quite a while. Even if the League does manage to send some people here, we've already got a backup plan. Remind me to check on that Sygna Suit prototype we got from Pasio."

"But Sawa-chan-sensei, what about our special guests?" Yui asked. "You mentioned before everything would go wrong if they didn't arrive in time. With how you and everyone else are saying that we're getting closer to our deadline, I'm scared of our plan failing now! We're too close to succeeding for that to happen!"

"Don't worry, Yui-chan." Sawako comforted her protégé. "That's where Jun-chan's mission comes in. While there are many ways it could go wrong, I have complete confidence in her that she'll bring back who we need. After all, I did give her very specific orders…"

* * *

Her eyelids slowly fluttering open by themselves, Kumiko gradually regained consciousness as she recognized where she was currently laying down: in front of her home back at Relude Town. Wait, why was she back home in the first place? Wasn't she supposed to be somewhere else right now?

Rubbing her bloodshot corneas as she sat up, Kumiko noticed the sun was lower compared to when she last saw it, which was… oh no, OH NO, OH NO. Reina! Remembering everything that happened before she passed out, tears began streaming down Kumiko's face as she relived those painful memories of her beloved pushing her away at the last moment. Just why? Just why did that have to happen?

Howling to the sky in grief, Kumiko's expression of pure despair soon caught her mother's attention. Opening the door to find her youngest daughter bawling her eyes out, Akiko Oumae could do nothing but stroke Kumiko's hair as she ran over and collapsed into her arms, sobbing uncontrollably.

That warm embrace from her mother was now Kumiko's only protection against the cold, cruel world.

She was upset. She was so upset she could die.

* * *

A/N: No chapter next week. To Be A Solister returns on October 28th.


End file.
